Paris Saint-Germain have moved to within a point of Ligue 1 leaders Marseille after beating them 2-0 this evening, extending their unbeaten streak to 17 games in the process.
Lucas Moura and Edinson Cavani both scored as Gianelli Imbula was sent off in what was a miserable day for the visitors.
Marseille boss Marco Bielsa took his usual spot atop an ice cooler as Cavani was nearly found with an ambitious ball early on, but Nicolas N'Koulou was there to cover across and ensure that the Uruguay international didn't get a touch.
The Argentinian coach would have been pleased with Marseille's intensity in the opening exchanges and Andre Gignac almost gave his side the lead when his powerful header clattered off the angle of the crossbar.
Gignac then whipped a low cross into the box which was hacked away by Thiago Silva as PSG struggled to get out of their own half.
After weathering the storm the Ligue 1 champions finally began to make forays into their opponent's end, with Lucas and Ezequiel Lavezzi in particular causing problems with their pace.
Javier Pastore's header forced a fine save from Steve Mandanda before N'Koulou again denied Cavani when he played a smart one-two with Lucas deep in the Marseille area.
The Brazilian forward eventually gave the hosts the lead when he forced home a close-range finish following poor defending from Benjamin Mendy.
After the break, David Luiz blocked another Gignac shot before Serge Aurier blazed wide as both sides created good chances.
Marseille's best opportunity to equalise fell to Romain Alessandrini, who failed to chip over Salvatore Sirigu after the keeper's poor pass gifted the ball to him.
The game adopted a frantic pace as the half went on, with the Parc des Princes seeing end-to-end action for long periods.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off the bench to make his long awaited return from injury and immediately stung the hands of Mandanda with a drive from distance before Cavani looped the rebounding ball over the goal.
Cavani eventually settled the contest with a glancing header after Imbula was shown a straight red card for a lunge on substitute Yohan Cabaye.
Benjamin Topliss
