Paris Saint-Germain took another big step towards France’s Ligue 1 crown with a 3-1 home win over second-placed Marseille on Sunday (Mar 16) to extend their lead at the top to 19 points. PSG are unbeaten in the league and cruising towards the title with 68 points from 26 games and eight rounds remaining.
Ousmane Dembele broke the deadlock after 17 minutes, racing on to a through-ball before slotting home and just before the break Nuno Mendes doubled the lead with a close-range finish. Marseille got themselves back in the game six minutes into the second half when Adrien Rabiot capitalised on a poor pass out of defence and set up Amine Gouiri, who made no mistake.
PSG went looking for a third goal and it came when Marseille defender Pol Lirola put the ball in his own net in the 76th minute as he tried to clear Achraf Hakimi’s cross into the box.
A clash between Ligue 1’s bottom two sides Montpellier and Saint-Etienne was abandoned in the 63rd minute on Sunday after home fans threw flares on. to the pitch and part of a stand caught fire. Basement club Montpellier were 2-0 down to their relegation rivals, with Lucas Stassin netting twice, his second coming eight minutes after the break which enraged the home support.
Flares landed on the pitch and the referee stopped play for three minutes before the match resumed, but supporters then began moving back from the front of the stand as smoke and flames could be seen in their sector. The referee sent the players back to the dressing rooms and after a 20-minute suspension an announcement was made informing the fans that the match had been abandoned.
