PSG cruise through heated Classico
Sunday night had a ‘Battle of the Titans’ in store as first place PSG took on third place Marseille in another edition of ‘Le Classique’ in Ligue 1.
Prior to the game, 13 points separated the two sworn enemies as Unai Emery went in search of solidifying PSG’s spot on the throne at the top of Ligue 1. For Marseille, the derby was billed as a grudge match with ‘Les Phocéens’ seeking vengeance for the two points stolen from them by Edinson Cavani in October last year.
After a few meaty tackles from the visitors, Kylian Mbappe drew first blood. When Jordan Amavi failed to clear his lines, the French starlet latched onto a loose ball in the box and fizzed a low shot inside the near post to put his side ahead.
A frustrated Ocampos was then lucky to escape a red card after a horror tackle on Dani Alves and it didn’t take long for things to go from bad to worse for Marseille. Rolando, determined to not let PSG’s No. 10 add to his debut season tally, poked a Neymar effort into his own net to double the Parisian’s lead.
Tempers started to flare, tackles got weightier, and the referee began dishing out cards left, right, and centre. The teams went into half-time with four yellow cards shared evenly between them.
- Cards, cards, cards -
The second half brought another round of toe stomping, shin kicking and ankle hacking as the referee handed out another seven yellow cards.
Edinson Cavani signed his name on the goalfest when he swivelled his marker and fired into the top right corner leaving Pele motionless between the sticks.
Marseille came close to pulling one back when Njie rounded Areola but Thiago Silva cleared the OM striker’s attempt off the line, adamant not to lose his clean sheet.
It was a convincing 3-0 win for the Parisians but there’s one image that’ll haunt them. After Neymar went over on his ankle, he fell to the floor howling. After a few long minutes of chaotic treatment, the Brazilian left the pitch on a stretcher. A very troubling sight for manager Unai Emery who will be crossing his fingers Neymar will be at his best for the Champions League return leg with Real Madrid in just over a week.
Sunday's victory meant PSG are now unbeaten in their last 16 games with the Southern rivals. Nevertheless, Marseille will get another shot at knocking Emery’s side off their pedestal in three days time when the two sides meet again in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France.