Paris Saint-Germain returned to winning ways in Ligue 1 after thrashing rivals Olympique Marseille 4-0, despite an early injury to Kylian Mbappe on Sunday evening.
Ligue 1
Result: Paris Saint-Germain 4-0 Olympique Marseille
Date: 24 September 2023
Venue: Parc des Princes
PSG made only one change following their win over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League, as Bradley Barcola came in place of Vitinha while the front three of Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Randal Kolo Muani was retained.
The Parisians had a perfect start after Achraf Hakimi gave them an early lead with a superb free-kick on the edge of the box that found the top corner after Mbappe was fouled.
The hosts gained confidence in their passing rhythm going forward but Mbappe was uncomfortable with a suspected ankle problem and just after the half-hour mark he could not continue, as he walked down the tunnel and was replaced by Goncalo Ramos.
However, Luis Enrique's charges were not affected, as Kolo Muani doubled their lead eight minutes before the break with a shot from a rebound after Hakimi's low shot came off the bottom post.
PSG were comfortable towards the end of the first stanza, as they were happy to knock the ball around and retained their two-goal cushion at half-time.
The Parisians eventually put the game to bed two minutes from the break after Goncalo Ramos made it 3-0 with a header in the box from a cross by Dembele.
PSG could not play with the same intensity after that and with 20 minutes to to, Enrique made a double change for fresh legs, as Danilo Pereira and Fabian Ruiz both came on for Lucas Hernandez and Dembele.
Marseille only started to find chances with 18 minutes to go, as Chancel Mbemba missed a good chance with a powerful strike on the edge of the box that dragged wide.
However, the visitors could not get any sort of rhythm, as PSG were too dominant with fresh legs late on and Ramos rubbed salt into the wounds of Marseille in the last minute with a strike high into the back of the net after he was setup by Kolo Muani in the box.
The victory took the Parisians up to third on the table, two points behind leaders Brest.
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