PSG 4-0 Marseille: Icardi and Mbappe punish visitors in one-sided Classique

Mauro Icardi and Kylian Mbappe both scored twice in the first half as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Marseille 4-0 in Sunday's Ligue 1 clash.

Free-scoring PSG had reeled off five wins in a row in all competitions heading into the first Classique of the season and made light work of seeing off its rivals.

The reigning French champion scored all four goals before half-time thanks to clinical doubles from Icardi and Mbappe in the space of 34 devastating minutes at Parc des Princes.

Edinson Cavani was brought on in the second half for his first appearance since August, but PSG - now eight points clears of closest challenger Nantes at the top of the table - could not add to its tally of 17 goals in its last four matches.

Valere Germain failed to make the most of a good chance early on and, less than a minute later, Icardi converted a rebound at the other end after his initial header was parried by Steve Mandanda.

Icardi was denied by Mandanda when played through by an exquisite flick from Mbappe, but the on-loan striker got to Marco Verratti's floated delivery ahead of the Marseille keeper three minutes later to double his tally.

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Despite the best efforts from Mandanda, who produced another fine save to thwart Mbappe from a one-on-one, PSG further extended its advantage through the France forward's tap-in after being teed up by Angel Di Maria.

The home side's fourth goal arrived before half-time, Mbappe rounding off a swift counter with a shot from the edge of the box that Mandanda was unable to keep out.

Mbappe spurned his big chance for back-to-back hat-tricks when firing wide 19 minutes from time, while Leandro Paredes had a free-kick saved as Marseille managed to keep down the scoring.

What does it mean? PSG in a league of its own

Marseille boss Andre Villas-Boas said in the build-up to this match that PSG is "in another league" to the rest of its top-flight rivals due to its financial strength.

On the basis of this victory, and a run of nine wins from 11 to begin the campaign, there can be little disputing those comments.

Mbappe makes his point

Mbappe scored a second-half hat-trick as a substitute against Club Brugge in midweek and later admitted to being frustrated at not starting the 5-0 Champions League win.

The France forward is now fully over his recent injury issues and marked his return to the starting line-up with another couple of goals, making it six in his last three matches.

Germain miss proves costly

Had Marseille forward Germain scored the chance that fell his way at 0-0, it may have been a different story in the French capital.

As it was, he fired his first-time shot wide of the target after being picked out by Dimitri Payet and his side was four goals down in the blink of an eye.

Key Opta stats

- Paris Saint-Germain's win came via the widest margin it has beaten Marseille by in Ligue 1, alongside 5-1 wins in January 1978 and February 2017.

- This was the first time PSG scored four goals in the first half against Marseille in a Ligue 1 fixture.

- Mbappe has now scored in each of his last four Ligue 1 games against Marseille.

- Di Maria has been involved in at least one goal in each of his last three Ligue 1 games with PSG against Marseille. He had one assist in October 2018, two goals and one assist in March 2019, and two assists on this occasion.

- Marseille boss Villas-Boas suffered his heaviest defeat in a league game - across spells in France, China, Russia and England - since his Tottenham side lost 5-0 to Liverpool in December 2013.

What's next?

Marseille is in Coupe de la Ligue action at Monaco on Wednesday, while PSG heads to Dijon on Friday for its next Ligue 1 match.