Ligue 1: PSG stays perfect and clinical Marseille beats unlucky Nice

PSG stayed in command at the top of the standings with a fourth win in as many games, with Marseille two points behind.

Paris St Germain’s Ousmane Dembele celebrates scoring its first goal against Brest with Achraf Hakimi. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Ousmane Dembele scored twice and Paris Saint-Germain remained perfect and prolific in the French league after beating Brest 3-1 on Saturday.

PSG stayed in command at the top of the standings with a fourth win in as many games.

Luis Enrique’s team has coped with the departure of Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid and has 16 goals so far.

Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot managed to keep PSG at bay until Dembele leveled the score three minutes before the interval. Romain Del Castillo put Brest ahead from the penalty spot at the Parc des Princes.

PSG then killed any remaining suspense in the space of 80 seconds when Fabian Ruiz scored in the 73rd with a powerful strike and Dembélé completed his brace in the next minute.

Despite the millions of euros invested to build a competitive team since a 2011 takeover by Qatari investors, PSG is still chasing an elusive Champions League title. It will host Girona on Wednesday in Europe’s top club competition.

Brest, which also qualified for the tournament with a third-place finish last season, plays Sturm Graz on Thursday.

Maupay on target in Marseille debut

New Marseille striker Neal Maupay scored against his former club in a 2-0 win over Nice, which hit the woodwork three times.

On a day when Marseille celebrated its 125th anniversary, Maupay was handed his first start by coach Roberto De Zerbi.

Marseille had just five shots on target and scored twice to remain unbeaten, just two points behind PSG.

Maupay joined from English Premier League club Everton on a season loan with an obligation to buy. He was trained at Nice then went on to play 160 Premier League matches with various sides.

Maupay made up for Marseille’s inadequacies in the first half by converting a rare chance in the 40th minute. He headed the ball home past Nice goalkeeper Marcin Bulka after a cross from Luis Henrique in the penalty area took a deflection.

Marseille enjoyed most of the possession but Nice was the most dangerous side in the first half and Maupay’s opener came after Melvin Bard volleyed onto the left post.

Nice hit the posts two more times after the interval.

Luis Henrique turned provider early in the second half with a beautiful curled shot into the top left corner after a one-two with Amine Harit on the edge of the box.

Marseille finished the match with 10 men after center back Derek Cornelius took too much time over a free kick and received a second yellow card. Nice camped in Marseille’s half in the last 10 minutes but good efforts from Marseille goalie Geronimo Rulli coupled with hard luck kept the visitors at bay.

Olympique de Marseille’s Neal Maupay celebrates scoring its first goal against Nice with teammates. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Monaco was a class above Auxerre and secured a deserved 3-0 away win with goals from Thilo Kehrer, Vanderson and Denis Zakaria.

The result moved the Principality side level on points with Marseille ahead of next week’s Champions League tie with Barcelona.

Auxerre goalkeeper Donovan Leon made a costly mistake after just eight minutes when he fumbled the ball from Kehrer’s header and let it in. Auxerre was then forced to take risks and was punished on the counter.

Switzerland midfielder Denis Zakaria was excellent, with one goal and one superb lofted assist for Vanderson.