Paris Saint-Germain completed a fine week by beating bitter rivals Marseille on Sunday to take a big step towards another Ligue 1 title, while the clash between relegation battlers Montpellier and Saint-Etienne was abandoned due to crowd trouble.
It means PSG could be crowned champions for the 11th time in 13 seasons during the next round of games on the last weekend in March. 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. Dembele opened the scoring on 17 minutes, latching onto a Fabian Ruiz pass and going round Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli before changing direction and finishing emphatically into an exposed net.
Dembele has scored 25 goals in 20 appearances since mid-December. Marseille were staring at a third defeat in their last four games as well as a seventh successive league loss to PSG.
Gouiri reduced the deficit soon after the restart as Adrien Rabiot latched onto a poor backpass by Mendes and went around home goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma before setting up the striker. Marseille are just two points ahead of both third-placed Monaco and Nice in fourth, while Lyon are a further two points back in fifth after beating Le Havre In Montpellier, 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 when the action was halted in the 57th minute, with a decision taken to abandon the match altogether shortly after. Referee Francois Letexier confirmed during a press conference that the game had been abandoned on the order of the authorities after police were forced to intervene to restore calm. Lucas Stassin had scored twice for Saint-Etienne who were on course for a vital win in their fight against the drop despite being reduced to 10 men just before half-time.
