Paris Saint-Germain overcame a controversial first-half send-off to win 2-0 against bitter rivals Marseille in Ligue 1 on Sunday, with Portuguese duo Vitinha and Goncalo Ramos scoring their goals. Marseille’s hopes of a first home league win against PSG since November 2011 were raised when the away side sent off Lucas Beraldo five minutes before the break. But the Qatari club still came out on top, with Vitinha exchanging passes with Ousmane Dembele before scoring a brilliant opening goal in the 53rd minute on a wet evening at the Velodrome.
Marseille looked for an equalizer and Jordan Veretout had a goal disallowed for offside against teammate Luis Henrique.
PSG coach Luis Enrique then withdrew captain Kylian Mbappe just after the hour and it was his replacement Ramos who secured the victory five minutes from time.
The goal came on the breakaway, with the visitors clearing a corner before Achraf Hakimi found Marco Asensio and picked out Ramos, who coolly finished for his tenth goal of the season.
Only Mbappé, with 38 in all competitions, has found the net more often for PSG this season.
The result means PSG end the weekend as they started it, 12 points ahead of second-placed Brest, who won 1-0 at Lorient earlier on Sunday.
There are only seven games left of the campaign and PSG need just ten points to claim a tenth title in twelve seasons.
The biggest talking point of the evening was the red card for Beraldo, the young Brazilian defender who signed in January.
He went shoulder-to-shoulder with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, knocking the striker over just past the halfway mark on the right flank.
After just one booking he escaped a second warning, but then referee Benoit Bastien came by to check the VAR monitor and after the assessment he surprisingly opted to show Beraldo a straight red card, as he judged that he had was the last defender.
Marseille could not make use of the extra man and a second straight league loss means they remain seventh, three points off the European places.
PSG will play Rennes at home in the French Cup semi-finals on Wednesday and host Barcelona a week later in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
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