Nuno Mendes scores as PSG beat Marseille in Le Classique [video] | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 Marseille

It has been quite a week for Portugal star Nuno Mendes. Having earned widespread praise for his performances in Paris Saint-Germain’s triumph over Liverpool in the Champions League, the left-back added a goal against Marseille in Le Classique on Sunday evening before joining up with the Seleção.

Mendes’ showings against Liverpool, during which he dealt admirably with Mohamed Salah, demonstrated the defensive side of his game, while this weekend’s big fixture in Ligue 1 saw the former Sporting man showcase his attacking prowess to devastating effect against PSG’s arch-rivals.

PSG were on the front foot from the off at the Parc des Princes, with Mendes’ surges forward from left-back an obvious weapon utilised early on. Ousmane Dembele, PSG’s shining star this season, put them ahead on 17 minutes, after which Mendes doubled the hosts’ advantage not long before the break.

It was typical of Mendes’ contribution to the attack that when Spanish midfielder Fabian Ruiz played the ball across the six-yard box, the Portuguese was on-hand to convert from close range for his third goal in all competitions of the season.

However, it was not the perfect evening for Mendes on a personal level. Five minutes after the re-start, the PSG man played an inexplicable back-pass which was intercepted by Marseille’s Adrien Rabiot, who cut the ball back for Amine Gouiri to half the deficit. Mendes was criticised by sections of the media for his overall defensive performance, but his mistake did not cost PSG, who soon struck again through a Pol Lirola own goal.

We controlled it – Mendes

Speaking to the media after the final whistle, Mendes said: “We tried to play our game, control it, not let the opponent do what they wanted. Today, we showed how we must control the match. We came away with a victory, that's the most important thing. It's always complicated, we won 2-0, then they scored a goal. We always have to keep a cool head. We have to continue doing what we did.”

PSG were without their full Portuguese contingent, as Gonçalo Ramos missed the match through illness. After his superb Champions League form, João Neves was dropped to the bench and came on after 72 minutes, but Vitinha took his usual place in midfield and played 99 passes across the full match.