PARIS: Neymar came close to their stellar record by handing Paris St Germain a 1-0 win at home to bitter rivals Olympique Marseille in Ligue 1 on Sunday as the champions ended a three-game winless streak.
Neymar found the back of the net on the stroke of half-time to put the leaders PSG with 29 points in 11 games, three ahead of second-placed Lorient.
Marseille, who had Sauel Gigot sent off midway through the second half, are fourth with 23 points, one behind RC Lens which they host next weekend.
PSG had drawn their previous three games in all competitions.
Earlier on Sunday, Olympique Lyonnais’ winless streak extended to six games after suffering a 3-2 defeat at Stade Rennais in their first game under new manager Laurent Blanc.
Martin Terrier scored twice for Rennes who recorded their third straight league win and moved up two places to fifth with 21 points.
Lyon, who named former France defender Blanc to replace Peter Bosz, have lost five of their last six games and slipped to 10th with 14 points.
SHY START
At the Parc des Princes, Amine Harit’s curling shot from 18 yards was parried by Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 23rd minute as Marseille picked up the pace after a tentative start.
PSG fought back five minutes later when Kylian Mbappe’s fierce shot was deflected over the bar by Pau Lopez.
The Marseille keeper, who had also turned down Mbappe at the start, was lucky enough to see Lionel Messi’s free-kick crash into the crossbar 10 minutes from the break.
But two minutes into first-half stoppage time, Neymar broke the deadlock by putting Mbappe’s low cross beyond Lopez’s reach to join Lille’s Jonathan David at the top of the goalscoring charts with nine goals.
There was more pressure from PSG early in the second half, and OM cracked in the 72nd minute when substitute Gigot was shown a direct red card for a brutal tackle on Neymar.
PSG looked to hit OM on the break and on one such counter-attack, Messi kicked the ball just over the bar after being played by Mbappe.
The Argentine striker, returning from a brief layoff with a calf injury, was replaced by Pablo Sarabia 10 minutes from time.
Marseille did not surrender but PSG controlled the pace of the game and again threatened Sarabia before handing the visitors their second straight Ligue 1 loss.
Neymar found the back of the net on the stroke of half-time to put the leaders PSG with 29 points in 11 games, three ahead of second-placed Lorient.
Marseille, who had Sauel Gigot sent off midway through the second half, are fourth with 23 points, one behind RC Lens which they host next weekend.
PSG had drawn their previous three games in all competitions.
Earlier on Sunday, Olympique Lyonnais’ winless streak extended to six games after suffering a 3-2 defeat at Stade Rennais in their first game under new manager Laurent Blanc.
Martin Terrier scored twice for Rennes who recorded their third straight league win and moved up two places to fifth with 21 points.
Lyon, who named former France defender Blanc to replace Peter Bosz, have lost five of their last six games and slipped to 10th with 14 points.
SHY START
At the Parc des Princes, Amine Harit’s curling shot from 18 yards was parried by Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 23rd minute as Marseille picked up the pace after a tentative start.
PSG fought back five minutes later when Kylian Mbappe’s fierce shot was deflected over the bar by Pau Lopez.
The Marseille keeper, who had also turned down Mbappe at the start, was lucky enough to see Lionel Messi’s free-kick crash into the crossbar 10 minutes from the break.
But two minutes into first-half stoppage time, Neymar broke the deadlock by putting Mbappe’s low cross beyond Lopez’s reach to join Lille’s Jonathan David at the top of the goalscoring charts with nine goals.
There was more pressure from PSG early in the second half, and OM cracked in the 72nd minute when substitute Gigot was shown a direct red card for a brutal tackle on Neymar.
PSG looked to hit OM on the break and on one such counter-attack, Messi kicked the ball just over the bar after being played by Mbappe.
The Argentine striker, returning from a brief layoff with a calf injury, was replaced by Pablo Sarabia 10 minutes from time.
Marseille did not surrender but PSG controlled the pace of the game and again threatened Sarabia before handing the visitors their second straight Ligue 1 loss.
