Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco warmed up for next week's challenges in the Champions League on Friday night with a domestic battle in Ligue 1 at the Parc des Princes.
PSG emerged with the spoils. Their 4-1 victory took them 16 points clear of third-placed Monaco and 13 ahead of Marseille who will attempt to consolidate second place when they play on Sunday night at Angers.
Monaco endured a terrible two minutes early in the opening exchanges. First, Takumi Minamino shot straight at the PSG goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma with the whole goal at his mercy and then, within seconds of the glaring miss, Donnarumma's opposite number, Radoslaw Majecki, allowed Vitinha's free-kick to squeeze into the net at his near post.
But in the 17th minute, Donnarumma was equally negligent. Monaco skipper Denis Zakaria surged into the penalty area and shaped to pass the ball across the box but instead fired in at the near post.
And it was a case of déjà vu for Monaco just after the pause.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who signed from Napoli last month, scored his first goal to give PSG a 2-1 lead in the 54th minute. And three minutes later, Ousmane Dembélé added the third. The 27-year-old France international bagged his brace in stoppage time to complete the rout and notch up his 10th goal in five matches.
"I think we played a very good first-half," PSG boss Luis Enrique told the club's TV station. "But in the second-half, it was even better. We created a lot of chances and did a good job to finish them.
"It was good for Khvicha to get his first goal and I hope it is the first of many."
Champions League
On Tuesday night, PSG play at Brest in the first leg of their play-off tie for a place in the last-16 of European football's most prestigious competition.
Brest prepared for the Champions League challenge with a 2-0 win at Nantes on Friday night.
Pierre Lees-Melou set up Ludovic Ajorque for the ninth minute opener at the Stade De La Beaujoire and Lees-Melou wrapped up the points in second-half stoppage-time.
PSG will be favourites to advance from the clash. On 1 February in Ligue 1, Dembélé hit a hat trick and Portugal striker Gonçalo Ramos bagged a brace in a 5-2 win at Brest.
"We're going to have to be a lot better when we play them in the Champions League," Brest coach Eric Roy remarked drily after the defeat.
Improvement
Monaco play on Wednesday night against Benfica at the Stade Louis II hoping to reach the last-16 of the Champions League for the first time since 2017 when they reached the semi-finals.
"It’s up to us to turn our minds to the Champions League and be ready for Benfica," Zakaria told the club website after the defeat at PSG.
"It’s a very important match against Benfica and it will be up to us to do things well. We lost against them during the group stages and obviously we want to do better and win. It will be up to us to be perfect because it will not be easy."
Both Brest and PSG remain on course in the Coupe de France. On Tuesday night, goals in each half from Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola allowed PSG past third tier Le Mans to reach the last eight.
Brest advanced to the quarter finals following a 2-1 win at second division Troyes. Ligue 1 counterparts Lille fared less well. They lost in a penalty shoot-out to second division Dunkerque while Nice went down 2-1 at fourth division Stade Briochin.
The minnows wiil take on PSG on 26 February while Dunkerque will run out at Brest the same evening. The other ties on 25 February pit Angers against Reims and Cannes against Guingamp.
