Paris Saint-Germain have returned to the top of the Ligue 1 table courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Nice at the Parc des Princes this evening.
Goals from Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe - the latter of whom was left out of the starting lineup but came off the bench to devastating effect - sent Christophe Galtier's side back to the summit 24 hours after they had been knocked off top spot by Marseille.
The defending champions have now won eight and lost none of their nine outings this season to sit two points clear at the top, while Nice have now lost back-to-back games despite looking as though they might take a point for much of the second half.
It was two of PSG's star names that did the damage, including a trademark free kick from Messi to break the deadlock shortly before the half-hour mark.
The Argentine won the free kick himself with a slaloming run through the centre of the pitch, and then stepped up to curl the set piece past a helpless Kasper Schmeichel - Messi's 60th goal from a direct free kick for club and country.
Nice were the only side to keep clean sheets home and away against PSG in Ligue 1 last season, and they caused the champions issues again when they levelled things up within two minutes of the restart, Gaetan Laborde controlling the ball and firing past Gianluigi Donnarumma after some statuesque defending from PSG.
With the hosts struggling to find a way through, Galtier turned to Mbappe off the bench on the hour mark, having rested the winger with one eye on their midweek Champions League trip to Benfica.
It proved to be an inspired substitution as Mbappe turned home Nordi Mukiele's cutback for his eighth Ligue 1 goal in as many games this season.
Both sides will now switch their attentions to European matters, with PSG taking on Benfica away on Wednesday and Nice facing Slovacko in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.
Barney Corkhill
