PARIS : Paris St-Germain took another big step towards the Ligue 1 crown with a 3-1 home win over second-placed Olympique de Marseille on Sunday to extend their lead at the top to 19 points.

PSG are unbeaten in the league and cruising towards the title with 68 points from 26 games and eight rounds remaining.

Ousmane Dembele broke the deadlock after 17 minutes, racing onto a through ball before slotting home and just before the break Nuno Mendes doubled the lead with a close-range finish.

Marseille got themselves back in the game six minutes into the second half when Adrien Rabiot capitalised on a poor pass out of defence and set up Amine Gouiri, who made no mistake.

PSG went looking for a third goal and it came

when Marseille defender Pol Lirola put the ball in his own net in the 76th as he tried to clear Achraf Hakimi’s cross into the box.

PSG could be crowned champions for the 11th time in 13 seasons during the next round of games on the last weekend in March.

If Marseille lose at Reims and AS Monaco draw with Nice on Saturday, March 29, PSG would be able to wrap up the title with a win at Saint-Etienne the same day.

“This has been an exceptional week for us,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique. “It was a good spectacle and a great game. We were maybe not quite as fluid as we have been but I am still very happy with the performance and it was an almost perfect night for us.”

Earlier on Sunday, the clash between relegation battlers Montpellier and Saint-Etienne was abandoned due to crowd trouble.

The clash between the bottom two was interrupted in the second half after flares were thrown by supporters, briefly causing a fire to break out in a stand at the Stade de la Mosson.

Saint-Etienne were leading 2-0 when the action was halted in the 57th minute, with a decision taken to abandon the match altogether shortly after.

Local police reported seven minor injuries and two arrests.

Montpellier are bottom of the table, five points adrift of Saint-Etienne, who are themselves a point behind Le Havre in the relegation play-off spot and three points away from outright safety.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2025