Di Maria grabs winner as PSG sink rivals Marseille

A moment of class from Angel Di Maria gave Paris St Germain a 2-1 win at bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille as the French champions stretched their unbeaten Ligue 1 run to a record-extending 34 games on Sunday.

>>Reuters
Published : 8 Feb 2016, 09:26 AM
Updated : 8 Feb 2016, 09:26 AM

The Argentine winger netted the winner in the 71st minute after Remy Cabella had cancelled out Zlatan Ibrahimovic's early opener to put PSG on 69 points from 25 games.

Laurent Blanc's side lead second-placed Monaco, who beat Nice 1-0 in the French Riviera derby on Saturday, by 24 points. Marseille are 10th on 34 points.

"I don't know if it was fair but we managed to win. It's good to play such a game before the Chelsea match (in the Champions League's last 16)," PSG captain Thiago Silva told Canal Plus.

"If we stay focused like this we may end the season unbeaten."

PSG got off to a dream start, with Ibrahimovic tapping in from close range at the far post from Maxwell's cross in the second minute.

Marseille, however, pushed hard and they were rewarded in the 25th minute when Cabella ran 50 metres with the ball, almost unchallenged, before firing home from just outside the box.

Marseille's Michy Batshuayi had a shot cleared off the line by Maxwell five minutes before the break, as PSG looked unusually shaky at the back and in the midfield nine days before the first leg of their clash with Chelsea.

Yet with 19 minutes remaining, Ibrahimovic set up Di Maria in the box and the Argentine effortlessly dribbled past Brice Dja Djedje before coolly beating Steve Mandanda as PSG completed a third successive league double over their rivals.

It was Di Maria's ninth league goal this season from 19 appearances, while he also has 10 assists.

Cabella blamed Marseille's defeat on their failure to take their chances. "We can be disappointed, it's another home defeat," he said. "We did the job but you have to convert your chances."