The Japan Times - PSG maintain unbeaten Ligue 1 record, Marseille back up to second

Desire Doue and Goncalo Ramos scored the goals for PSG either side of half-time at the Parc des Princes, as coach Luis Enrique changed almost his entire starting line-up following the midweek European clash with Aston Villa.

PSG had already secured a fourth successive Ligue 1 title before this game, and their 10th consecutive league win leaves them on 77 points with five matches remaining.

No side has ever completed an entire French top-flight campaign unbeaten.

"We knew this game was a potential banana skin for us after a Champions League match which sucked out all our energy and left us feeling tired," Luis Enrique said.

"All the ingredients were there for this to be a difficult game against a side who were in need of points."

Achraf Hakimi and Bradley Barcola were the only players to keep their place in the PSG line-up at kick-off, following the 3-2 defeat away to Aston Villa which saw them edge through to the last four of the Champions League and a tie against Arsenal.

Doue gave PSG the lead inside eight minutes, and Ramos made it 2-0 shortly after half-time with his 15th goal this season.

Issa Soumare pulled one back for Le Havre, but the result leaves the Normandy side still in the relegation play-off place.

- Battle for Europe -

If the title race in France is already over, the fight for European qualification behind PSG is intense, with the next six teams separated by only seven points.

Mason Greenwood scored twice as Marseille hammered doomed bottom club Montpellier 5-1 to retake second place from Monaco, who drew 0-0 with Strasbourg earlier.

Roberto De Zerbi's Marseille were under pressure after a run of five defeats in their previous seven games had threatened to derail their bid for Champions League qualification.

But they had few problems at home to a Montpellier side who have now lost 11 straight matches and are certain to be relegated.

Greenwood opened the scoring from the penalty spot and his brace means he now has 18 Ligue 1 goals this season, a tally bettered only by PSG's Ousmane Dembele, on 21.

A Wilfried Ndollo Bille own goal, and further strikes by Jonathan Rowe and Adrien Rabiot, completed Marseille's victory at the Velodrome, leaving them a point ahead of Monaco.

The principality side's draw with Strasbourg keeps them three points ahead of their opponents, who are fifth.

Monaco were looking for a seventh successive home win in Ligue 1, but leading scorer Mika Biereth had a goal disallowed for offside in first-half stoppage time.

They had most of the chances, although Strasbourg had the ball in the net late on too, only for Emanuel Emegha's effort to also be ruled out for offside.

Liam Rosenior's Strasbourg are now unbeaten in 10 games and remain hopeful of qualifying for the Champions League -- a level the Alsace outfit have not played at since the 1979/80 European Cup.

"I have a group of players who believe they can do it, and I believe they can do it as well," said Englishman Rosenior.

"Nobody said that this team would be able to do this at the start of the season.

"Ten games unbeaten, and the players are disappointed not to win against Nice (a 2-2 draw last week) and now Monaco, which shows how far we have come in a short space of time."

Lyon, in fourth, go to derby rivals Saint-Etienne on Sunday looking to bounce back from their agonising Europa League loss to Manchester United on Thursday.

Lille and Nice, who are now sixth and seventh respectively, also play on Sunday.

The top three qualify automatically for the Champions League, with fourth going into the preliminary rounds.

Fifth place qualifies for the Europa League and sixth for the Conference League, although there will be an extra Europa League place available via the league should PSG beat Reims in the French Cup final next month.

M.Fujitav--JT