PSG and Olympique Marseille drew goalless in the French classic

Paris Saint Germain survived, at the Velodrome stadium, (0-0) in the French classic against Olympique Marseille, who did not have the necessary aim to overcome a Ligue 1 leader who played almost the entire second half with one man less, due to the expulsion of Moroccan Achraf Hakimi.

The classic had everything but goals. The crowded stands, a hot audience, decisive interventions by the VAR, interruption due to the behavior of the fans and even a spontaneous on the field.

Neither Leo Messi nor Kylian Mbappe, much less Neymar, who initially formed the Parisian attack with Ángel Di María, They shone in a duel without great game, but with emotion that Jorge Sampaoli’s team had closer to, especially in the second part.

The dominance of the party was tied at the beginning by the cadre of Mauricio Pochettino. Mbappé and Messi, headed, had the opportunity to score, but they were not right.

At a quarter of an hour, a bad shot by Neymar, who was looking for Mbappé, was intercepted by the Brazilian Luan Peres, who introduced the ball into his own goal. But the VAR intervened and canceled the goal.

It also happened to Marseille when a center from the Spanish Pol Lirola was taken advantage of by the Polish Arkadiusz Milik. Video refereeing came into action, invalidating the goal.

The chances declined in the first half interrupted at half an hour by the behavior of the local radicals, who threw objects onto the pitch every time Neymar or Messi tried to execute a corner kick.

After the intermission, an action marked the match. Undar faced the goal of Keylor Navas alone and was locked by Achraf. It was outside the area, but the action cost the defender the red card.

The superiority encouraged Marseille, which closed in on Navas’ goal. Always without success. Neither Dimitry Payet nor Valentin Rongier nor Konrad de la Fuente took advantage of clear opportunities to score and unbalance the game, while Paris Saint Germain only threatened with actions on the counterattack.

The tie reduces the distance of Pochettino’s team in the lead. They are seven points ahead of Lens, who beat Metz, while Marseille is fourth, also behind Nice, ten behind first place. (D)