Paris Saint-Germain steamrolled Marseille in the latest edition of Le Classique to fire themselves back to the top of the Ligue 1 table. A brace from Ballon D’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, and efforts from Kvaratskhelia, Lee Kang-In, and an own-goal from Facundo Medina saw Les Parisiens take sweet revenge at the Parc des Princes. Marseille meanwhile cap off a torrid two weeks as De Zerbi’s men fell to fourth in the table, with even Champions League qualification a battle until the end of the season.
THE MATCH
The second Classique clash of the season saw Paris Saint-Germain wanting to come out for revenge after Marseille won at the Vélodrome in Ligue 1 for the first time in 14 years earlier in September. A rowdy Parc des Princes welcomed the two rival players, with no away supporters in the French capital side’s ground since 2010. It was a testy opening few minutes with both sides trying to physically and tactically impose themselves – Vitinha would earn the first booking between the two rivals as PSG claimed a freekick after a late challenge from Timber on the edge of the box.
Then the hosts would open the scoring, just as Marseille pushed their front three and midfielders to press high onto the PSG backline. Yet it left a huge space on the left side as Pavard left his man and Nuno Mendes broke down the left side, before sending a cross with the outside of his foot for Ousmane Dembélé to tuck home (12′). It just needed one lapse in concentration for PSG to take advantage, but Gouiri (who scored at the Parc last season) almost flicked home immediately but Safonov was alert to the Algerian after a low cross from Greenwood from the left flank. After being exposed multiple times, it was only a matter of time before Les Olympiens would concede again – this time Dembélé exploiting a mistake from Leonardo Balerdi before dribbling one, two, then three OM defenders before lashing home his finish at the near post into the roof of the net (37′).
Roberto De Zerbi would act during the break, bringing on Igor Paixao in place of Ethan Nwaneri – yet it was PSG that came close to further imposing their lead, when Désiré Doué ran the OM defence ragged and his low strike from just inside the six-yard box rattled the post. Mason Greenwood would lose the ball up the pitch and it let PSG coming bearing down on goal – Dembélé put the ball on a plate for Doué who just couldn’t stretch to finish first time. Marseille then had their first chance of the second period saved by Safonov after Igor Paixao rose high to head downwards from Greenwood’s cross.
Weah had a strike blocked by Pacho, before De Zerbi sent on Himad Abdelli for his debut. Luis Enrique sent Kvaratskhelia on for Doué. PSG should have arguably put the game to bed when Barcola slipped through on goal and managed to dribble past De Lange but the angle was too tight to finish into the back of the net. Two would quickly become three for Les Parisiens after a comedy of errors including another from Balerdi saw Joao Neves break into the box, and his header would be flicked into the back of the net by Medina for an own goal (64′). A fourth was added just shortly after when Dembélé’s ball into the box was sumptuously volleyed home by Kvaratskhelia (66′). It would then go from bad to worse as Lee-Kang In finished from the edge of the box after failing to be closed down by Medina to add a fifth.
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN PLAYER RATINGS
Matyvev Safonov – 6
Warren Zaïre-Emery – 6
Willian Pacho – 6
Marquinhos – 6
Nuno Mendes – 7
Joao Neves – 7
Vitinha – 6
Senny Mayulu – 5
Ousmane Dembele – 9
The French international was at his Ballon d’Or-worthy best, scoring twice in the first half and assisting Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s strike. His second goal, which saw him weave around the Marseille defence before an emphatic finish, will be remembered among the all-time great Classique goals.
Doue – 6
Bradley Barcola – 6
Another misfiring but positive match for the forward, who constantly pierced through the Marseille defence. His poor final product will have been of little consequence on the result. Replaced by Kang-in Lee, who scored his second goal of the season within minutes of coming on.
OLYMPIQUE DE MARSEILLE PLAYER RATINGS
Jeffrey De Lange – 4
Despite shipping five goals, the Dutchman put in a respectable performance with plenty of saves and lots for De Zerbi to think about in his goalkeeping department after Geronimo Rulli’s dip in form. He wasn’t helped by a frankly hapless OM defence, which let him down.
Leonardo Balerdi – 1
A torrid night for the Marseille captain. Just when you think the Argentine experienced enough at OM long enough to learn from his mistakes, he comes up with another in a big game. Balerdi was directly responsible for PSG’s second goal, whilst not organising his backline enough for the opener earlier in the clash. For Medina’s own goal, Balerdi’s error was vital, capping off an awful night.
Facundo Medina – 2
Benjamin Pavard – 3
Timothy Weah – 3
Emerson Palmieri – 4
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – 3
Quinten Timber – 3
A combative performance from the Dutchman at the start, who looked an offensive tool in the first half when his swivelled shot fell wide of the post. Yet he wrongly pressed up the pitch with Hojbjerg when Marseille opened up for Dembélé’s opening goal early on.
Ethan Nwaneri – 3
The Englishman came to Marseille to prove himself in big games like this, but he failed to have the desired impact for his side despite a few interesting dribbles on the ball. He was rightly substituted at half-time for Igor Paixao.
Mason Greenwood – 2
Whilst the Englishman should be relishing games like this against PSG, he was nowhere near the levels that had seen him score 30 goals already so far this season. More than that, as OM’s performance dipped, so did his body language. In a game of this magnitude, it didn’t seem Greenwood wanted it.
