Paris St Germain in a league of their own

With 2-1 away win against bitter rivals Marseille on Sunday, Paris St Germain flew 24 points clear at the top of the French league.

Angel Di Maria celebrates after his goal against Marseille in Paris St Germain's 2-1 win on February 7.. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

Paris Saint-Germain sailed past Olympique de Marseille for the ninth time in a row in Sunday's "classico", in game which could have gone both ways.

It was also PSG's 15th straight league win, and their 34th game unbeaten this season.

To make things worse for Marseille, the win means PSG can now boast twice as many points as their bitter rivals.

Zlatan opened the score for Paris with a cool finish in the second minute. It was his 21st this season, thus reinforcing his position as top scorer, head and shoulders above Marseille's Batshuayi (12).

Paris St Germain's Swedish talisman made things worse for the hosts later on in the game by providing Angel Di Maria with a vital assist.

Di Maria almost added a second in the eleventh minute, when he paced past Brice Dja Djédjé, but the Argentine's schot flew just wide of the target.

Marseille's head coach Michel can take pride in the spirit his men showed throughout the encounter, with inspired performances from Rémy Cabella and Georges-Kévin Nkoudou in attack, as well as from Javier Maquillo and David Silva in defence.

Marseille came back into the game in the 25th minute with a stunning equaliser from Cabella, and went on to press the visitors for a second goal.

Lucas almost added a second for PSG, but his strike followed the same path as Di Maria's.

In a tightly disputed first half, Michy Batshuayi in turn could have put Marseille ahead in the 41st minute, but Maxwell denied him the glory with a last-ditch clearance on the goal line.

Marseille pressed the visitors for a solid quarter of an hour at the beginning of the second half, but Angel Di Maria's 71st minute winner ultimately spelled defeat for Marseille - their tenth in a row at home this season.

Neither Nkoudou nor Alessandrini could stop the champions' impressive winning streak with their last-minute attempts on goal.

Laurent Blanc's men will now be full of confidence ahead of their Champions League clash with Chelsea on February 17, and with 13 games left this season, they will hope to become the first team ever to complete a full season without losing a match.