Portuguese footballers Vitinha and Gonçalo Ramos today sealed the victory for Paris Saint-Germain in Marseille (2-0), Benfica’s opponent in the ‘quarters’ of the Europa League, who remained unbeaten at home until the 27th round of the French League.
Even playing with one less player for an hour, due to the expulsion of Brazilian central defender Lucas Beraldo, in the 40th minute, PSG managed to ‘mortally wound’ Marseille in two counterattacks, the first started and finished by Vitinha, who opened on the right in Ousmane Dembelé and collected the ball from the same player to open the scoring, at 53.
The second goal, in the 85th minute, resulted from another offensive transition by PSG, started by Moroccan international Achraf Hakimi, continued by Spaniard Marcos Asensio and finished by Gonçalo Ramos, who received the ball, made the diagonal towards the inside of the area and hit Spanish goalkeeper Pau Lopez.
It should be noted that Gonçalo Ramos entered the field in the 64th minute, replacing Kylian Mbappe, in a match in which Danilo Pereira was a starter and was in good shape in PSG’s defense, who also has Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to thank for the victory, who defended everything there was to defend.
With this victory, leader PSG not only broke Marseille’s unbeaten run at home in the championship, but also maintained their 12-point lead over second-placed Brest. Marseille remains in seventh, with 39, outside the places that give access to Europe.
Brest went on to beat Lorient thanks to a solitary goal from striker Romani Del Castillo, scored in the 86th minute.
Of the remaining games today, highlights include the victory of Nantes, 14th placed, at Nice, fifth, by 2-1, and Toulouse at Clermont, by a resounding 3-0.
For their part, Montpellier went to Le Havre to win 2-0, while Strasbourg gave Rennes no chance at home, winning 2-0.