A first step

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The key moments

A victory makes things feel so much better. It'll be key to stay positive through to May, and Thomas Tuchel's men put a small smile back on their faces after Manchester United.

To start the fun, the French champions opened up with one of their specials: a near-post corner from Angel Di Maria, headed in by Marquinhos, taking the place of the usual recipient, Edinson Cavani, who was again missing (0-1, 7'). Dijon are fighting for survival and Benjamin Jeannot (9') and Mehdi Abeid (31') both tried to reply only for Alphonse Areola to deny them. 

At the opposite end, Runar Alex Runarsson kept out Kylian Mbappé once (28'), but not a second time as the French top-flight's leading scorer slide home his 25th strike of the season from close range following Layvin Kurzawa's cross (0-2, 40'). At half-time, the capital club was in tune with its habits: it had scored at least twice on each of its six previous league visits to Dijon.

Di Maria's left-foot was also just as precise as usual as his inch-perfect free-kick proved shortly after the break (0-3, 50'). That made the second half comfortable for the visitors, but not so for the hosts as Mbappe sought a brace, going close (78') before hitting the woodwork (80'). Instead, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting added the fourth from Thomas Meunier's cross (0-4, 90+2'). The win means Paris Saint-Germain reopen their 17-point lead over Lille at the top of the table and are closing in on another national title, that's another reason to smile.

A Parisian in the match: Angel Di Maria

By delivering the ball onto the head of Marquinhos for the opening goal, Di Maria registered his 40th Ligue 1 assist, 12 more than any other player since he has been in France. He also provided the pass-before-the-final-pass for the second goal and scored the third himself. 

The word: Rewarded

Eric Choupo-Moting had been looking for his second league goal since scoring on his debut against Rennes at the end of September. Shortly after coming off the bench, the Cameroon international was rewarded for his endeavour, no doubt much to the delight of his recently formed fan club.

Coming up

There's a big game coming up. On Sunday, Marseille are the visitors to the Parc des Princes for the Classique (kick-off 21:00CET). With Mario Balotelli on form, OM have won five of their last six league games, but the division's fourth-placed side know they arrive in the capital where Paris are going for their 15th successive home win in L1 this season.