Unstoppable Paris see off Marseille and continue towards the title!

A few days after their historic 0-1 win at Anfield, Paris Saint-Germain were back on the pitch for another crucial encounter: the Classique against Marseille. Luis Enrique opted to start with a central defensive pairing of Willian Pacho and Lucas Beraldo in front of Gianluigi Donnarumma's in a bid to secure a second win in a week. On the right of defence, Achraf Hakimi inherited the captain's armband, while Nuno Mendes started on the opposite flank. In midfield, Vitinha was supported by Warren Zaïre-Emery and Fabian Ruiz. In attack, Ousmane Dembélé started in a central position, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Désiré Doué on the wings.

In an electric Parc des Princes, Paris took the game by the scruff of the neck. Positioned high up on the pitch, Nuno Mendes latched onto a good Achraf Hakimi cross and set the tone with a first-time shot that tested Géronimo Rulli (11'). The Parisians stepped up the pressure on the Marseille goal, and Fabian Ruiz took advantage of a good deflection from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's to send Ousmane Dembélé through on goal. The capital club's No10 took it delightfully past Rulli, to send the Parc into raptures with a mid-height shot (1-0, 17')! Behind early on, Les Phocéens were forced to react, and Valentin Rongier took a chance from twenty yards out, forcing Gigio Donnarumma to intervene (31'). However, it was going to take a lot more than that to rattle a Parisian rearguard that had been calm throughout the first half.

As half-time approached, the Rouge et Bleu were back on the attack. Achraf Hakimi and Fabian Ruiz again combined to get in behind an overwhelmed Marseille defence, and the Spanish international handed Nuno Mendes the second goal of the evening on a plate (2-0, 42'). At the end of a well-controlled first half, Paris went into the break with a two-goal lead. Although it was the Parisians who were the first to make their mark on the second half, with Désiré Doué doing a fine job to set up Ousmane Dembélé, who failed to hit the target (50'), it was the visitors who finally took advantage of the start of the second period to reduce the deficit through Amine Gouiri (2-1, 51').

Luis Enrique's men remained confident, however, and went straight back in search of another goal. Once again, Ousmane Dembélé was at the heart of the action, cutting inside from the left before unleashing a shot that struck the far post of a beaten Geronimo Rulli (60'). Moments later, it was Warren Zaïre-Emery's turn to get the better of Marseille's rearguard before being stopped by the Argentinian keeper (62'). With self-sacrifice and perseverance, Paris finally got their reward, scoring a third after yet another Achraf Hakimi overlap led to a Pol Lirola own goal (3-1, 76').

The Parc des Princes was alive with celebration and, against their eternal rivals, the club from the capital wanted even more. Lee Kang-In, who had come on as a substitute a few minutes earlier, had a left-footed curling effort saved by Marseille's 'keeper (86'). After a match in which they were never really troubled, Paris Saint-Germain had won another Classique against Marseille, their second of the season after the reverse fixture at the Velodrome (0-3). Now 19 points clear of second-placed Marseille, the Rouge et Bleu are now more than ever asserting their dominance at the top of Ligue 1! Now it's time for the international break for the Parisians, who return to league action on Saturday 29th March for Matchday 27 at AS Saint-Étienne (7pm). Thank you Paris!