PSG puts Feyenoord opponent Marseille further behind and can smell the title


Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 10:57 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 23:07

Paris Saint-Germain has come one step closer to the French league title. The leader of the Ligue 1 was 2-1 too strong for direct pursuer Olympique Marseille in its own Parc des Princes on Sunday evening. Neymar and Kylian Mbappe accounted for the goals. Coming Wednesday, the championship can be officially won, when Mauricio Pochettino’s team visits Angers SCO. With a victory by PSG and a loss of points by Marseille, the tenth national title is a fact.

At PSG there was again no base place for Georginio Wijnaldum. The midfielder, like Xavi Simons, took place on the bench and was to be brought in ten minutes before the end. The home side were aware of the interests and tightened their thumbscrews from the first minute. After just under fifteen minutes of play, the opening goal was already a fact. After a brilliant pass from Marco Verratti, Neymar outsmarted the outgoing Pau López by suddenly taking the ball out of the air: 1-0. Marseille, which had an excellent run with eight wins in a row, then crawled out of the shell to score the equalizer after half an hour.

After a corner kick from the left of Dimitri Payet, Gianluigi Donnarumma couldn’t get his fists right against the ball, after which PSG couldn’t get the ball out of its own box. Duje Caleta-Car responded most attentively by working the ball from one meter into the empty goal. PSG, however, hardly seemed upset by the goal and quickly came up with an answer when Neymar was allowed to score a free kick. The Brazilian sent his bet to the right corner, but found López in his way. On the stroke of half-time, the second goal seemed to come after all, when Lionel Messi finished in a controlled manner. After VAR intervention, the goal was disallowed for offside.

The devil was in the tail of the first half anyway, as three minutes after Messi Mbappe’s disallowed goal still provided the new lead. After an individual action by Neymar, the ball unfortunately landed on Valentin Rongier’s forearm, after which the referee awarded a penalty after studying the images. Mbappé knew what to do with the opportunity and scored flawlessly in the left corner: 2-1. In the second half there was significantly less to enjoy and the chances were very few for both goals. A hit by Mbappé was disallowed for offside, after which Marseille thought to take optimal advantage.

Five minutes before time, Payet hurled the ball from the left in front of the goal on one of the last opportunities of the game, after which William Saliba was ready at the far post to complete with the head. Again the VAR was switched on and again a line went through the goal. The most remarkable moment was yet to come, as Donnarumma demanded attention in injury time. The goalkeeper came out and passed Amine Harit, only to work the ball over the sideline for inexplicable reasons.

No. Team m W G V † Pnt
1 Paris Saint Germain 32 23 5 4 42 74
2 Olympique Marseille 32 17 8 7 21 59
3 Stade Rennes 32 17 5 10 35 56
4 OGC Nice 32 16 7 9 14 54
5 Strasbourg 32 14 11 7 19 53
6 AS Monaco 32 15 8 9 16 53
7 RC Lens 32 14 8 10 9 50
8 Lyon Olympics 32 13 11 8 9 49
9 Lille OSC 32 12 12 8 2 48
10 Nantes 32 13 8 11 6 47
11 Montpellier 32 12 6 14 0 42
12 Stade Brest 32 10 9 13 -7 39
13 Reims 32 8 13 11 -1 37
14 Angers 32 8 10 14 -10 34
15 Troyes AC 32 8 9 15 -15 33
16 lorient 32 7 10 15 -20 31
17 Saint Etienne 32 7 9 16 -27 30
18 Clermont 32 7 8 17 -29 29
19 Girondins de Bordeaux 32 5 11 16 -35 26
20 Metz 32 4 12 16 -29 24