Author: Amrit Santlani
Paris Saint-Germain got back to winning ways in Ligue 1, but suffered a major scare with Kylian Mbappe, who limped off injured in the first half of the 4-0 win over Marseille at Le Classique.
PSG hosted their rivals at the Parc des Princes on Sunday and goals from Achraf Hakimi, Randal Kolo Muani and a brace from Gonçalo Ramos made the achievement convincing, but the injury to their main striker before the Champions League game on October 4 was a problem.
With the win, Luis Enrique’s side moved up to third place in the Ligue 1 standings, with Brest at the top of the table.
Just seven minutes into the game, Hakimi opened the scoring with a well-taken free-kick after Mbappe had been fouled by Leonardo Balerdi. The Frenchman tried to continue playing, but had to be withdrawn with a suspected ankle injury. The reigning champions survived an early scare when Vitinha hit the crossbar, wasting a glorious chance for Marseille.
Hakimi then shot from distance, his shot hit the post and Kolo Muani was on hand to tap in and score his first goal since arriving at the club from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Just a minute after the restart, Gonçalo Ramos ended the contest with a diving header to complete Ousmane Demebele’s cross and make it 3-0. Hakimi was fouled by Balerdi, and the Moroccan came close to scoring his second goal from a free-kick that was too close to the target. In an emphatic counter-attack by the Parisians, Kolo Muani slipped the ball through to Ramos, who scored the fourth goal and made the score even brighter.
After sacking coach Marcelino last week, Marseille’s first defeat of the Ligue 1 season saw them drop to seventh in the standings, two points behind PSG.
Brazilian defender Marquinhos put in another reliable defensive display and played the entire match. His fellow countryman Renan Lodi put in an average performance, but also completed the ninety minutes.