Lionel Messi brought up a special milestone as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Olympique Marseille 3-0 in Le Classique.
Ligue 1
Result: Olympique Marseille 0-3 Paris Saint-Germain
Date: 26 February 2023
Venue: Stade Orange Vélodrome
PSG were without Neymar, who was ruled out with a sprained ankle as Mbappe and Lionel Messi led the attack, in a midfield-packed 3-5-2 formation.
The game got off to a frantic start but the Parisians had an early injury casualty after Presnel Kimpembe pulled a muscle and he was stretchered off and replaced by Danilo Pereira.
The visitors had no issues with the rhythm of their play being affected, as Mbappe broke the deadlock on 25 minutes after he raced through on goal from Messi's through ball and made no mistake in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Pau Lopez.
Mbappe turned on the magic four minutes later as he glided his way through in the box and played a nutmegged cut-back that was poked home by Messi to double the lead for PSG for his 700th club career goal.
Marseille got into the game in the tail end of the first stanza as Alexis Sanchez came close to pulling a goal back on the stroke of half-time with a cracking free-kick from the edge of the box that was tipped over the crossbar by shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The quality of Mbappe and Messi was decisive again for Christophe Galtier's charges early in the second stanza as the Argentine picked up the run of the French forward with a dink and the 24-year old applied the finishing touches with a volley in the box, got his brace and put PSG out of sight.
Marseille did not drop their heads as Sanchez came close again to pulling a goal back on 65 minutes with a header from a corner that was destined for the bottom corner but Donnarumma pulled off another impressive save.
Igor Tudor looked to keep some competitiveness in the closing stages by making a few changes that included Dimitri Payet and Vitinha.
However, the Parisians were not giving much away defensively and cruised to a win that extended their lead over second-placed Marseille at the top of the table to eight points.
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