Marseille 0 - 2 Paris Saint-Germain): Paris St Germain beat rivals Marseille to equal long-standing record

Posted Monday, October 29, 2018 by PA

Paris St Germain matched Tottenham’s long-standing European record by beating Marseille 2-0 to record an 11th straight league win at the start of a season.

Kylian Mbappe provided the decisive moment in Le Classique just three minutes after being sent on as a second-half substitute at the Stade Velodrome.

And Julian Draxler confirmed PSG’s historic success by squeezing home Neymar’s cross-shot with the final kick of the match.

Mbappe’s 10th Ligue 1 goal of the season put PSG on their way to equalling the 11 wins Spurs managed at the start of the 1960/61 season – a best in Europe’s top five leagues.

PSG boss Thomas Tuchel, already without the injured Edinson Cavani, took the surprising decision to omit Mbappe following his disappointing performance against Napoli in the Champions League in midweek.

Mbappe stayed on the bench for 62 minutes, and for the majority of that time PSG had laboured against their bitter rivals from the south of France.

But the 38th goal of PSG’s league campaign arrived when Mbappe’s searing pace took him onto Angel Di Maria’s pass and he slotted his shot low past Steve Mandanda.

Marseille had gone 17 games without beating PSG – the longest stretch in their history – and there was little love in the stands for their Parisian visitors.

Neymar was prevented on several occasions from taking corners as objects rained down on him, incidents that Marseille might well not have heard the last of.

Both Marseille boss Rudi Garcia and PSG assistant manager Arno Michels were sent to the stands as tempers threatened to boil over.

Marseille played with a positive energy throughout, but scoring opportunities were rare as the final pass often went astray.

PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola comfortably held efforts from Jordan Amavi and Lucas Ocampos, while Luiz Gustavo flashed a half-volley wide from the edge of the area.

Former Stoke striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting started for the first time but PSG were stifled in the first period, so much so that they failed to muster a shot on target until injury time.

Draxler set up Di Maria at the far post, but Kevin Strootman got back on the line to clear with Mandanda beaten.

PSG showed more attacking intent after the restart with Di Maria testing Mandanda from distance and Neymar producing a wonderful piece of skill to find space in the penalty area before firing wide.

Dimitri Payet saw his free-kick tipped over by Areola, but PSG were in the ascendancy when Mbappe was sent on to apply the killer touch.

Mbappe did just that and he forced another fine save from Mandanda soon after.

Amavi clipped the outside of a post from 25 yards in the final stages as Marseille pushed for a grandstand finish.

They wanted a penalty in the fourth minute of injury time as Valere Germain tumbled, but the decision to play on looked a correct one and PSG broke away to cement the win.