World Cup foes Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe inspired Paris Saint-Germain to a 3-0 win at bitter rivals Marseille to extend their Ligue 1 lead to eight points on Sunday.
Mbappe, who bagged a double, was set up by Messi for both his goals, and repaid the favour by laying on another for the Argentine forward as PSG, who were without the injured Neymar, moved to 60 points from 25 games with second-placed Marseille on 52.
The goal was Messi’s 700th at club level between his trophy-filled tenure at Barcelona and his more recent time at PSG. France forward Mbappe, who was on the losing side against Messi’s Argentina in the World Cup final, became PSG’s joint record scorer with 200 goals — level with Edinson Cavani.
“We were aggressive, we put intensity into the game, that’s what we’d been missing,” said PSG centre-back Sergio Ramos.
Marseille coach Igor Tudor said he did not regret his side’s high-risk approach.
“Why should we have changed our way of playing? It has been working well this season,” he said. “Mbappe’s presence didn’t change anything. His presence made it more difficult for us to play our game, but we were not going to change it.”
Third-placed Monaco slumped to a 3-0 home defeat against Nice, who prevailed thanks to a Terem Moffi double and a superb half-volley by Khephren Thuram.
The result left Monaco on 50 points, ahead of fourth-placed Lens on goals scored after the northerners drew 1-1 at Montpellier on Saturday.
PSG, who were knocked out of the French Cup in the last 16 by Marseille earlier this month, ended a three-game losing streak in all competitions by beating Lille last weekend and they were focused throughout at the Velodrome.
They suffered an early injury blow when Presnel Kimpembe, who missed the World Cup for France with an Achilles issue, left the pitch on a stretcher, two weeks after making his comeback from a three-month layoff.
Matteo Guendouzi created danger as Marseille pressed high and hard, but they were exposed on the counter and the hosts were punished in the 25th minute when Messi played Mbappe through and he raced into the area to beat Pau Lopez with a low shot.
The roles were reversed four minutes later as Mbappe delivered a pinpoint cross for Messi, who tapped in from point-blank range to double the advantage in front of an all-time Ligue 1 record attendance of 65,800.
Messi then missed a sitter and Mbappe was denied by Lopez after being found in the area by the Argentine again, just before Marquinhos’ angled shot went just wide as Marseille were again caught on the break.
Messi beautifully lifted the ball into the path of Mbappe, who volleyed home with his left foot for his 16th goal of the season in Ligue 1.
Gianluigi Donnarumma made a spectacular save from Nuno Tavares’ header in the 67th to snuff out any hope of a Marseille comeback as PSG secured a first clean sheet in six league games.
PSG next face Nantes at home before travelling to Bayern Munich for their Champions League last-16 return leg after losing the first encounter 1-0 at the Parc des Princes.