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Marseille 0 Paris Saint-Germain 2: Super-sub Mbappe keeps champions perfect

SoccerNews in Ligue 1 28 Oct 2018

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Kylian Mbappe scored within four minutes of coming on for Paris Saint-Germain as they claimed a 2-0 win over fierce rivals Marseille on Sunday.

The teenager became the first player in Europe’s top five leagues to reach 10 goals this season to seal all three points in Le Classique and cement the champions’ place at the top of Ligue 1.

Thomas Tuchel’s side restored an eight-point gap over second-place Lille after an 11th league win in a row, confirmed by Julian Draxler’s injury-time finish, that equals the record start to a campaign set by Tottenham 58 years ago.

PSG’s surprising 3-5-1-1 set-up did little to unsettle the Marseille defence in the first half, in which the only major chance of note occurred in stoppage time, when Kevin Strootman cleared Angel Di Maria’s shot off the line.

It took less than a minute of the second half for Di Maria to force Steve Mandanda into his first save of the match, the keeper parrying a bouncing shot past his left-hand post.

Neymar had been targeted by missiles thrown from the crowd throughout, but he nearly silenced the home fans with a low left-footed drive following a dazzling run into the penalty area.

Opposite number 10 Dimitri Payet had a similarly quiet game, although he tested Alphonse Areola with a free-kick, before Tuchel turned to Mbappe in the 62nd minute to try to ignite a spark in his attack.

It did not take long. PSG won back possession in their half, Di Maria quickly sent Mbappe forward on the break and the attacker held off Boubacar Kamara to drill past Mandanda.

Thomas Meunier was denied a second by Mandanda and Jordan Amavi shaved the outside of the upright, but PSG secured the win with practically the last kick of the game, Draxler sliding in to score after Neymar had scuffed Mbappe’s pass across goal.

 

What does it mean? PSG match 58-year record

Victory for PSG means they are the first team since Tottenham in 1960 to start the season in one of Europe’s top five leagues with 11 consecutive victories.

The result puts them eight points ahead of Lille, who visit the Parc des Princes on Friday in a match that already looks like it could decide whether the title race becomes in any way complicated.

Marseille missed out on the chance to go fourth and have now only won two of their last six games in all competitions.

Sarr unlucky to be on losing side

Bouna Sarr deserved much better than to lose this game. The right-back was consistently excellent in keeping Neymar, Mbappe and Di Maria quiet and offered a threat going forward, even though Marseille had few options awaiting any crosses.

Choupo-Moting a strange piece of the puzzle

Tuchel’s back-three system was a peculiar choice, giving PSG control of the first half but doing little to worry Marseille unduly in defence.

Part of that problem was Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s attempts to plough a lone furrow in attack, which yielded two wayward shots and nine completed passes before he was replaced by Mbappe.

What’s next?

Next up for PSG is the visit of Lille to the capital, before a key Champions League clash with Napoli just four days later.

Marseille travel to Montpellier in a week and then turn their attentions to their own trip to Italy, where they will face Lazio in the Europa League.

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