Paris march on
After a hectic start to 2020 with 15 games crammed into the opening weeks of the new year, the Parisians had had a calm week in the capital to prepare for Dijon's visit, which marked the start of another frenzied period of matches.
It kicked off in style though. The Rouge-et-Bleu did not have to wait long to make the breakthrough. A poor clearance was seized on by Kylian Mbappé. His cross gave Marquinhos the chance to shoot, and Pablo Sarabia deflected the ball into the net (1-0, 3').
There was chance after chance in Alex Runarsson's box: the Iceland international made a great save to deny Thilo Kehrer (9'), Mbappé headed just over the bar and Sarabia went close to a second (13'). Mickaël Alphonse's effort kept Keylor Navas on his toes, but the traffic was mostly in the opposite direction. Edinson Cavani twice came close to adding a second thanks to Mbappé's approach work (35', 40') - the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner then forced a save from Runarsson (39') before fizzing a long-range shot wide of the target (43').
Smart in their use of the ball, and patient in the build-up, the hosts left Dijon very little, and the six shots on target Thomas Tuchel's men mustered in the opening 45 minutes was ample evidence of the goal threat they provided.
A rash of chances came in the second half too (Cavani 60', Mbappé 61', 70', Sarabia 71') along with some incisive team moves. Mbappé was in particularly irrepressible mood. He latched onto a Julian Draxler pass before firing past Runarsson to finally give Paris Saint-Germain the second goal their domination deserved (2-0, 74'). He then turned provider to enable Mauro Icardi - who came on with 20 minutes to go - to join in the fun with a low cross-shot (3-0 76'). Mbappé wasn't done there though, reverting to goalscorer in the closing seconds to give the scoreline a healthy gloss (4-0, 90+1').
Determination, unity and quality, all the ingredients required to reinforce their position at the top of the table. Focus now on Wednesday's trip to Lyon with a place in the Coupe de France final at stake.