PARIS - Paris Saint-Germain continued their march towards a record-equalling 10th French title when goals by Neymar and Kylian Mbappé earned them a 2-1 home victory against bitter rivals Marseille on Sunday.
Neymar's early opener for PSG was cancelled out by Duje Ćaleta Car before Mbappé's penalty sealed the win and put PSG on 74 points.
They now lead second-placed Marseille, who had a late equalizer disallowed, by 15 points with six games left and could be crowned champions next weekend. Jorge Sampaoli's side have a three-point lead over third-placed Rennes as both teams battle it out for second and direct qualification for the Champions League group stage. The team in third will enter the competition in the third qualifying round.
PSG got off to a lively start and it did not take long for Mauricio Pochettino's men to take the lead. Neymar put them ahead after 12 minutes when, latching onto a cross from Marco Verratti, he lobbed keeper Pau López from the penalty spot.
NEEEEEYYYYY! ⚽
1-0Watch PSG vs. Marseille live NOW on beIN SPORTS at 2:45 PM ET.#PSGOM #Ligue1 pic.twitter.com/NyuUBCfkqn
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Marseille stayed compact and leveled on 31 minutes as Ćaleta Car tapped in from a packed goalmouth after Gianluigi Donnarumma missed the ball from a corner.
THE EQUALIZER FROM MARSEILLE!!!! No defense could kick the ball away.
1-1Watch PSG vs. Marseille live NOW on beIN SPORTS.#PSGOM #Ligue1 pic.twitter.com/lGp9rpbsHa
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PSG piled on the pressure but were repeatedly caught by the offside trap, with Lionel Messi denied a goal. They were, however, rewarded for their domination on the stroke of halftime when they were awarded a penalty after a VAR review showed that the ball had hit Valentin Rongier's elbow on the edge of the area.
Mbappé buried the spot kick five minutes into stoppage time for his 21st goal of the Ligue 1 season.
GOAAAAAAAAAAL! Mbappe with the penalty before the break! ⚽
2-1 PSG leading #LeClassiqueWatch PSG vs. Marseille live NOW on beIN SPORTS.#PSGOM #Ligue1 pic.twitter.com/Ar55kaflvH
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Tempers flared after the break and Neymar protested vehemently after picking up a yellow card for a foul on Mattéo Guendouzi and needed a couple of minutes to cool down. PSG had another goal disallowed in the 75th minute when Mbappé was ruled offside after being set up by Messi.
MAGIC FROM LEO AND MBAPPE! #PSGOM #Ligue1 pic.twitter.com/kuvz8eB1la
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Marseille celebrated what they thought was an equalizer five minutes from full-time, only for William Saliba's goal to be ruled out for yet another offside.
Earlier, Nice climbed up one spot to fourth, two points behind Rennes, after Andy Delort's double gave them a 2-1 home win against Lorient. Lyon bounced back from their elimination in the quarterfinals of the Europa League against West Ham United by demolishing second-from-bottom Bordeaux 6-1 at the Groupama Stadium with doubles by Moussa Dembélé and Karl Toko Ekambi. Lyon are eighth on 49 points, seven behind Rennes.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)
