MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) – Paris St Germain enjoyed every second of a ruthless 3-0 Ligue 1 away win over bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille on Sunday after a first-half performance featuring three goals and a red card for their hosts tilted the game in their favour.
The win puts the Parisians three points clear of AS Monaco at the top of the standings and six ahead of Marseille, who slumped to their sixth straight league defeat against the side from the French capital.
“We started very well from the first minute against an opponent who played well, we kept up the pressure, we had several clear chances,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said.
With Marseille struggling and PSG having taken the lead through Joao Neves in the seventh minute, the game was ended as a contest when the home side’s Amine Harit was shown a straight red card in the 20th minute.
“With the sending-off, the game changed – it was more closed and also harder for our opponents, but we continued to work,” Luis Enrique said, and two more goals duly arrived before the break.
“In the second half, it was calmer, we could have scored even more. We dedicate this victory to the fans, we know that it is important for them, it is for us too,” he added.
Previous incidents of crowd trouble between the two sets of fans meant the visitors were barred from bringing their supporters with them, but it made little difference as PSG dominated from the off.
“It’s a good feeling, the joy. We always want to win here. To do that in this stadium is a special favour,” midfielder Vitinha told broadcaster DAZN.
“They got the red card early, we scored two goals in a row, it killed the game for them. We could have scored more goals, we’ll have to keep creating chances, we need to convert,” he continued.
“We’re happy, we won this game that has a special flavour.”
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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