Paris Saint-Germain defeated Marseille at the Ligue 1

Paris: Paris Saint-Germain defeated arch rivals Marseille 2-0 at the Parc des Princes on Sunday as the Ligue 1 title race was thrown wide open.

The two-time defending champions dominated their visitors from the south in an intense encounter and wrapped up three crucial points thanks to an opportunist strike from Brazilian Lucas Moura and a close-range header from Edinson Cavani.  

PSG are now just one point behind Marseille as their unbeaten start to the season, in all competitions, continued in the biggest fixture in French football.

Lyon, who won their fifth straight match earlier in the day when they downed Guingamp 3-1 at the Stade Gerland, are also breathing down the necks of Marseille and stand two points adrift.

The match in the capital struggled to burst into life despite the return of PSG’s Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic who came on with 24 minutes left for his first action since September 21.

Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa looked on in shock with the match 1-0 as his side’s chances of an equaliser took a severe turn for the worse with 12 minutes left when Giannelli Imbula was shown a straight red card for what appeared to be a minor offence.

Cavani capped a convincing performance for PSG with a poacher’s header from just outside the six-yard box with five minutes remaining that capped a perfect week for the capital club who also booked their place in the Champions League knockout phase.