Kylian Mbappe and Mauro Icardi scored in the first half as Paris Saint-Germain beat Marseille 2-0 on Sunday to move three points behind league leader Lille, who cruised past 2-0 at Nantes earlier of the day.

Mbappe opened the scoring in the eighth minute from a counter-attack, before Icardi doubled the lead in the 23rd when he flicked an Alessandro Florenzi cross with his neck into the far corner.

"We came here with the intent to win this game, it wasn't just words," Mbappe said after the match. "We attacked well and we managed to score two goals in the first half, which put the game to bed. We were then able to calmly manage our lead."

The French international has scored 16 goals in the league this season, ranking the top of the leading scorers' list.

"After one month, to have built this relationship and to continue improving day by day, I think it's important to have this type of happiness and victory. It's always a good thing to keep on working in the way we are working," said PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino, whose side is going to travel to Barcelona for the Champions League round of 16 first-leg clash on February 16.

PSG stay third in the Ligue 1 standings with three points behind leader Lille, one point off second-placed Lyon.

Earlier in the day, Canadian forward Jonathan David scored a brace to fire the pace-setter 2-0 past Nantes to extend its winning streak to six games.

Niko Kovac's Monaco also continued the winning run as it defeated Nimes 4-3 to improve the record in the year of 2021 to 7-0.

Monaco sits at fourth place with three points behind PSG.

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

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