PSG showed class in the rivalry match against Marseille despite playing short of one man
Paris Saint-Germain was held to a 0-0 draw in a rivalry match against Marseille, but the Parisian side will take the point after going down a man with a little over a half-hour remaining in the match.
PSG remains in first place in the Ligue 1 standings after the result in Le Classique, a comfortable seven points from second-place Lens.
Marseille lets a huge opportunity slip and remains in fourth place, still 10 points away from PSG, but with a game in hand. Marseille will make that game up on Wednesday at Nice, while PSG is back in action on Friday against defending champs Lille.
There were actually two goals scored in an entertaining first half, but they were both disallowed. PSG thought it had scored in the 14th minute after a Neymar cross was put into his own goal by Marseille defender Duje Caleta-Car. An offside call scratched that strike, and it was the case again on a Marseille goal in the 21st minute. Pol Lirola was ruled offside on that instance.
PSG right back Achraf Hakimi was sent off in the second half after bringing down Cengiz Under, who was sprung free on goal. After checking the play on the monitor, the referee showed Hakimi the red card for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
After the red card, Marseille brought in some attacking reinforcements, including American Konrad De La Fuente, who had the best opportunity of the game in the 77th minute when he whiffed on a wide-open volley. He created a few other chances on cutbacks off his trademark runs down the left, but Marseille could not create more scoring chances despite a strong showing by veteran midfielder Dimitri Payet.
PSG fielded its star-studded foursome in attack, and it looked promising early with Angel Di Maria’s runs on the wing and combination play between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe. Outside of a shot by Neymar which forced a save from Marseille, they were otherwise quiet. Mbappe had the lone second-half chance on a breakaway run six minutes from time, but he was foiled by a tackle from Marseille defender William Saliba that was accompanied by a lot of contact.
Culled from SPORTSNGNEWS
