Neymar Jr. got the only goal of the game as Paris Saint-Germain beat Olympique de Marseille 1-0 at the Parc des Princes to open up a three-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 Uber Eats.
Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Olympique de Marseille
THE MATCH
PSG welcomed 'MNM' back against Marseille, with Lionel Messi and Neymar returning alongside Kylian Mbappé in attack having missed last Saturday's goalless draw at Stade de Reims. The trio looked lively, and Mbappé saw a disguised shot into the near bottom corner well saved by Pau Lopez (19'). Amine Harit then forced a similar save from Gigio Donnarumma soon after (22'). OM were giving as good as they got for much of the first half and after Messi had fired a shot straight into Lopez's gloves (29'), Nuno Tavares let fly at the other end, his right-footed attempt catching the Italy No.1 off-guard and forcing him to tip over (31'). Messi was inches away from making it 1-0 when his free-kick hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced out (35') but PSG would finally get Lopez's net to bulge on the stroke of half-time when Mbappé slipped the ball inside to Neymar who steered a fine ninth goal of the campaign in off the post (45'+2).
Moment of madness for Marseille
Marseille had a good spell at the start of the second half with Chancel Mbemba (50') and Jonathan Clauss (52') testing Donnarumma with efforts in quick succession. Mbemba - a centre-back lest we forget - then sent an acrobatic attempt inches wide (54'). PSG started to come back into it, though, and Marco Verratti sent a shot straight into Lopez's feet after breaking into the OM box (61'). Achraf Hakimi was the next to try his luck, but his effort from a tight angle was tame (70'). OM went down to 10 men when Samuel Gigot was sent off for a tackle from behind on Neymar, in which he got none of the ball (72'). Marseille, to their immense credit, ran hard for the rest of the game, but that had little impact on the scoreline as PSG ran out 1-0 winners.
THE PLAYER: Neymar Jr.
Neymar's future was in doubt at the start of this season with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi publicly laying down the gauntlet to the Brazilian, but his contract rolled over until 2027 in July and he has proved good for it and then some since. His goal on Sunday was his ninth in Ligue 1 Uber Eats this season. Added to his seven assists, Neymar has had a hand in a goal every 52 minutes he has played.
THE STAT: 14
Messi's first-half free-kick that came back off the crossbar was the 14th time he has hit the woodwork since the start of last season, which is four more times than any other player league-wide over the period.
