PARIS - Ousmane Dembele's second-half brace and goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Vitinha steered Paris St Germain to a 4-1 home win over AS Monaco on Friday, preserving their unbeaten run and extending their lead in Ligue 1.
PSG, who announced contract extensions for coach Luis Enrique, Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, and Vitinha before the match, secured their 16th win in 21 games to reach 53 points, 13 ahead of second-placed Marseille, who have a game in hand.
Vitinha opened the scoring just six minutes in when he sent his low free kick inside the near post to beat the Monaco goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki, who got his hand on the ball but could not prevent the Portuguese's goal.
"I'd already practised taking free kicks, but it was instinct. The pitch was wet too, so I said to myself, Why not?" Vitinha said.
"We're on a good run of form and we need to keep it going for as long as possible. There are still a few things to sort out, but when you're like that, little mistakes are forgotten."
The visitors managed to overcome PSG's early dominance and Denis Zakaria equalised by scoring from a tight angle off Soungoutou Magassa's fine through ball in the 17th minute.
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While both sides had chances to grab the lead before halftime, it was PSG's new signing Kvaratskhelia who put the hosts ahead again with his first goal for the club after brilliantly cutting inside a defender in the box in the 54th minute.
"I wanted the first goal to come quickly. I'm the happiest person in the world today," the former Napoli winger said.
"I have to keep working hard to score more goals for this incredible team. I'm very proud to be here with this club."
Ligue 1 leading scorer Dembele extended the advantage just three minutes later after a one-two with Desire Doue, and the 27-year-old winger sealed the rout in the 90th minute with his 16th league goal this season.
The loss leaves Monaco third on 37 points ahead of Wednesday's clash at Benfica in the Champions League knockout playoffs, where the French champions face fellow Ligue 1 outfit Brest on Tuesday.
