Paris Saint-Germain are three points clear at the top of Ligue 1 after an unexpectedly one-sided edition of Le Classique ended 3-0 to the French champions at Stade Velodrome on Sunday thanks to Luis Enrique’s side showing renewed maturity after a testing run. Les Parisiens’ form has faltered of late with just one win from the last four games across all competitions coming into this weekend but the capital outfit found themselves ahead against Olympique de Marseille after just seven minutes and out of sight before half-time in an unbalanced encounter.
It took just seven minutes for Joao Neves to pounce on Geronimo Rulli’s error to give the supporter-less visitors the lead which hushed the home crowd that had until that point been a wall of noise for the PSG players to overcome alone and up against a familiar face in Adrien Rabiot. Referee Francois Letexier made things easier for Luis Enrique’s men just 13 minutes later with a harsh straight red card for a clumsy high-footed Amine Harit challenge on captain Marquinhos which required only nine minutes to be punished further.
The manner of Paris’ second goal was shocking from a Marseille point of view with Roberto De Zerbi watching on in horror as Leonardo Balerdi put through his own net before the half-hour with a self-inflicted goal so comical that it was like a car crash in slow motion. It took just 11 more minutes for PSG to add another goal to their lead with Bradley Barcola finishing easily after being teed up by Ousmane Dembele to confirm the end of the contest after just 40 minutes by which time OM supporters were already leaving the stadium.
Given that no Parisien fans were allowed to make the trip to Marseille, emotional management was always going to be key for Luis Enrique and his players and the Spanish tactician got this one spot on when the stakes were highest. AS Monaco’s loss away at OGC Nice earlier in the day was good news for PSG as it invited them to open up a three-point lead at the summit but it was equally a potential trap as an OM win would have meant that all three were level on 20 points.
A calm and composed opening 20 minutes effectively won the game for the visitors because during that time the stadium dynamic was turned from being essentially an extra man for Marseille to almost being an extra man down with over an hour left to play. Neves punishing Rulli’s error was the start of that temperature change after what had been an impressive build-up to boiling point just before kick-off but the key moment was tempers being kept in check as Harit went in high and caught Marquinhos.
The action itself arguably merited a yellow card at best and certainly not a dismissal which altered the course of the contest irrevocably but OM had worked themselves into a frenzy by this point which De Zerbi should have prepared better for given his side’s history of struggling in this fixture. For an idea of how much history PSG were able to channel into victory in the first half, the men from the capital were unbeaten in 11 Championnat visits to Stade Velodrome with eight of those wins which has obviously now become nine from 12 — an incredible record to hold over bitter rivals.
From that moment, the one-man advantage from the stands arguably became a two-man disadvantage as the OM fans ceasing to believe in victory on top of Harit being ejected was too big a mountain for De Zerbi to get his troops up and over before conceding again in comic fashion. Equally as staggering as Paris’ record in Provence is the fact that this same team under Luis Enrique looked so average just days before in a home draw with PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Champions League which leaves them with four points from a possible nine and as the least impressive Ligue 1 representative at European soccer’s top table so far this season.
If Luis Enrique can replicate the mastery of his team in the first half of this game when going up against the likes of Atletico Madrid and Manchester City at home as well as Bayern Munchen away, then there is no doubt that their sluggish UCL start can still be arrested an turned around. The mental focus against OM was so sharp even that it produced the sort of clinical finishing that has been missing while still enjoying the signature monopoly over possession — arguably the key ingredient that had been missing in recent weeks when points were dropped against Arsenal, Nice, RC Strasbourg Alsace and PSV.
