THE MATCH

Paris never looked back after Pablo Sarabia gave them an eighth-minute lead in the capital, and the sending-off of Montpellier goalkeeper Dimitry Bertaud soon after effectively ended the game as a contest. Ángel Di María, Kylian Mbappé, Layvin Kurzawa all added further goals, while Daniel Congré also put through his own net as PSG made it 19 games unbeaten in all competitions and moved provisionally 13 points clear at the Ligue 1 Conforama summit.

Sarabia was preferred in the starting line-up to Mauro Icardi, who began the game on the bench alongside Edinson Cavani, the Uruguayan still a Paris player after a January transfer fell through. The Spaniard seized his chance by pouncing on a loose ball to curl in a fine opening goal, having already had another effort disallowed for an offside in the build-up.

Playing only because usual custodian Geronimo Rulli was suspended after being sent off in the Coupe de France defeat against Belfort in midweek, Bertaud received a straight red card in the 17th minute for coming out of his area to try to stop Mbappé, and only succeeding in stopping the ball with his arm.

Cavani denied goal

The 20-year-old Matis Carvalho came on in goal for his debut, with Gaëtan Laborde making way and the visitors abandoning a five-man defence to go to a 4-4-1 formation. By half-time they were 3-0 down. First Di María exchanged passes with Sarabia, broke into the box and clipped the ball over Carvalho to score (41’). Then Téji Savanier tried to clear a Di María corner from the home right, only to slice the ball into the face of teammate Congré. The ball rebounded into the net for a farcical own goal (44’).

There was relief for the home support when Neymar Jr. came back out for the second half, having required lengthy treatment at the end of the first half after hurting himself in a challenge with Arnaud Souquet. The Brazilian, with his hair dyed pink, set up Mbappé for one shot that hit the post just after the break, and then released Mbappé again, with the World Cup winner this time rounding Carvalho to make it 4-0 with his 14th Ligue 1 Conforama goal of the season (57’).

Kurzawa fired in a loose ball to get the fifth in the 65th minute, and that was the end of the scoring, although Cavani, on as a substitute, thought he had made it six for the hosts when he headed in a Di María assist at the death. The offside flag cut short his celebrations and the full-time whistle followed. By that point a chastened Montpellier were down to nine men, with substitute Joris Chotard seeing a second yellow card in the 88th minute for a foul on Presnel Kimpembe.

THE PLAYER: Neymar Jr

The world’s most expensive player may not have scored, but he made one goal for Mbappé and generally stood out - partly thanks to his pink hair. Coach Thomas Tuchel will be relieved, as will the PSG fans, that he was able to carry on after appearing to hurt his ribs in that challenge with Souquet just before the interval. Neymar, who wore a number 24 shirt with Kobe Bryant’s name on it in the warm-up, can now look forward to a party to celebrate his 28th birthday in a Paris nightclub on Sunday.

THE STAT: 6

Neymar has set up six goals in the league this season, and all of his assists have been for Mbappé.

Lille claim rare away win, Monaco crumble

Elsewhere, LOSC boosted their hopes of a return to Europe, bouncing back from a shock Coupe de France exit at lower-league Epinal in midweek by coming from behind to win 2-1 away to RC Strasbourg Alsace. Adrien Thomasson gave the home side a 12th-minute lead at the Stade de la Meinau, and it looked like Lille might continue their dreadful record of having won just one away Ligue 1 Conforama game since last March. However, Brazilian defender Gabriel equalised in the 65th minute and Victor Osimhen - who had earlier struck the bar - got the winner from the penalty spot with 10 minutes left after Lionel Carole had handled in the area.

Meanwhile, Robert Moreno is still looking for his first league win in charge of AS Monaco, as the principality club succumbed to their third straight defeat, having two men sent off in the first half in a 3-1 defeat away at Nîmes Olympique. Wissam Ben Yedder put Monaco ahead at the Stade des Costières with his 15th league goal of the season, but Florian Miguel equalised for the home side, and the visitors then fell apart in spectacular fashion.

Tiémoué Bakayoko walked on the half-hour mark for a foul on Romain Philippoteaux, and Gelson Martins followed moments later for clashing incomprehensibly with the referee (32’). The only surprise after that was that it took the Crocodiles until the 62nd minute lead to take the lead - Philippoteaux put them ahead, and Pablo Martinez made it 3-1 late on after new signing Nolan Roux helped the ball on.

Toulouse stop rot

That result leaves Monaco still in 13th before Sunday’s games, while Nîmes are still 19th. However, they are now just a single point behind Amiens SC, who remain in the relegation play-off place after a 0-0 draw at home to bottom club Toulouse FC. After 11 successive Ligue 1 Conforama losses, this was a first point since mid-October for Toulouse.

In other games, Dijon FCO moved five points clear of the bottom three by beating Stade Brestois 29 in Burgundy, winning 3-0 at the Stade Gaston-Gérard with Guinea-Bissau winger Mama Baldé scoring twice in the first 20 minutes before English youngster Stephy Mavididi wrapped up the points (77’).

Stade de Reims claimed a stunning 4-1 win away to Angers SCO at the Stade Raymond-Kopa despite Rachid Alioui putting home team ahead in the seventh minute. Malian teenager El Bilal Touré, a January signing, equalised for Reims from the penalty spot (38’), before Yunis Abdelhamid gave them the lead just past the hour mark. A Baptiste Santamaria own goal (74’) and a Boulaye Dia effort (75’) secured the points for the men from Champagne country. It was their first win in five league games and the first time they have scored four goals in a top-flight game since February last year.