Lionel Messi scores 700th career club goal as Paris Saint-Germain takes control of Ligue 1 title race
By Matias Grez, CNN
Paris Saint-Germain took control of the title race in Ligue 1 on Sunday with a huge 3-0 win away at bitter rival Marseille to extend its lead at the top of the table to eight points.
It was a masterclass in attacking football from Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi, who combined for all three of PSG’s goals and reached individual milestones in the process.
Messi scored the 700th club goal of his career, a number matched only by Cristiano Ronaldo, while Mbappé become PSG’s joint-record scorer with his 200th goal for the club.
Mbappé reached his second century of goals in just 246 games, per Opta, 55 games less than Edinson Cavani took to reach the landmark.
“He is the best striker in the world, that’s for sure, because he plays with speed and everything he does he does quickly,” PSG head coach Christophe Galtier told reporters.
“He does it with great intensity and he knows how to be present in big matches, that’s also the sign of a great player.”
Marseille had got the better of PSG earlier this month, knocking the Parisians out of the French Cup, and started Sunday’s game the better of the two teams.
However, unable to take advantage of its early dominance, Marseille paid the price as a rampant PSG took control of the match.
Messi and Mbappé both scored and assisted a goal to give PSG a comfortable 2-0 lead at half time, though Marseille will have gone into the break relieved it wasn’t at least five goals down.
Mbappé then scored the pick of the goals 10 minutes into the second half to end the match as a contest, running onto Messi’s scooped through ball and volleying first time into the bottom corner.
Despite a flurry of late action from Marseille, there was to be no comeback in Le Classique as PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma produced a couple of fine saves to give the team its first clean sheet since a 7-0 victory over sixth-tier Pays de Cassel in January.
However, it wasn’t all good news for PSG as defender Presnel Kimpembe was stretchered off early in the first half with what Galtier later confirmed was a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Galtier was involved in an angry confrontation with some Marseille fans behind the PSG dugout at full time, having to be dragged away by the rest of his coaching staff.
PSG next faces Nantes in Ligue 1 on Saturday, before turning its attention to Bayern Munich the following Tuesday as it attempts to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit and reach the quarterfinals.
The-CNN-Wire
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