Le Havre 0-1 PSG: Barcola decisive as PSG extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1

Paris Saint-Germain are set to take on 13th-placed Le Havre at the Stade Océane on Matchday 24 of Ligue 1 McDonald's. The Parisians will hope to increase their lead at the top of the league following Lens' 1-1 draw against Strasbourg on Friday night.

Midweek, the European Champions secured their spot in the Round of 16 of the Champions League after a 2-2 draw against Monaco (5-4 agg.). Luis Enrique and his team will therefore face Chelsea, the Club World Cup Champions in the next round.

For this game, the Spaniard coach will once again have to deal with many injuries in his team with Fabian Ruiz, Quentin Ndjantou, Joao Neves, Senny Mayulu and Ousmane Dembélé all missing through injury.

Luis Enrique made several changes to the team that faced Monaco on Wednesday with Illia Zabarnyi, Lucas Hernandez, Dro Fernandez and Lee Kang-In all making their way in the starting lineup for this game.

Paris Saint-Germain's starting XI: Safonov; Zabarnyi, Pacho, Hernandez, Hakimi; Warren Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Dro Fernandez; Kvaratskhelia, Lee Kang-In, Barcola.

Le Havre's starting XI: Diaw; Seko, Lloris, Zagadou; Pembele, Gourna Douath, Ebonog, Zouaoui; Ndiaye, Boufal, Soumaré.

PSG edged past Le Havre

A good start for PSG, the visitors dominated possession from the first kick of the game, playing the ball around Le Havre's penalty area. On the first corner of the game, Paris saw Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's header saved off the line by Le Havre defender (2').

While it has been all PSG in the opening 10 minutes, the hosts managed to be dangerous through fastbreaks. The league leader faced a well-organised side in the first 30 minutes. Didier Digard's side managed to stay high on the pitch while limiting space for PSG which allowed them to launch several counter attacks.

A wonderful pinpoint cross from Kang-In Lee offered Bradley Barcola his ninth goal of the campaign as Paris opened the score after 36 minutes. Shortly after, Lee had a tremendous opportunity to double their lead after a great service from Barcola on a fastbreak. However, the South Korean sent his effort in Diaw's side netting (38').

Paris came back strong after the break and created chances to score, however, Le Havre led by an outstanding Sofiane Boufal managed to create the biggest chance of the second half so far as he served Soumaré in the box. Le Havre captain's effort was denied by a great Safonov save (54').

Substitute Nuno Mendes saw his strike saved by Diaw from point blank range after a great service from Bradley Barcola. Later Ibrahim Mbaye came close to make it 2-0 for the visitors but was once again denied by Diaw from close range. Shortly after, Désiré Doué's penalty was saved by Diaw who is delivering an incredible performance to keep his side in the game (80').

Despite all of Le Havre efforts, Luis Enrique and his team were able to hold on to their short lead and extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1 up to four points.

Up next, Paris will host Monaco on March 6th at the Parc des Princes on Matchday 25 of Ligue 1 McDonald's, which will be the fourth matchup between the two sides this season.