Striker Kylian Mbappe says he “never asked to leave” Paris St-Germain amid reports he wanted a move away from the French capital in January.
Mbappe, a 2018 World Cup winner, had previously been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid.
“I am very happy,” Mbappe said after setting up Neymar’s winner in the 1-0 win over Marseille on Sunday.
“I have never asked to leave in January.”
Reports that Mbappe wanted to leave the club surfaced ahead of PSG’s Champions League match against Benfica on Tuesday.
“I didn’t understand why the story came out on the day of a game. I was as shocked as everyone,” Mbappe claimed.
“People can think I was involved but I wasn’t at all.”
Neymar scores 200th club goal in PSG win
Earlier, Neymar scored the only goal as PSG beat rivals Marseille at the Parc des Princes to remain unbeaten at the top of Ligue 1.
Lionel Messi forced two early saves from Pau Lopez and cannoned a free-kick off the bottom of the crossbar.
The breakthrough in ‘Le Classique’ came in first-half injury time with Neymar finding the bottom corner with a first-time finish from Mbappe’s pass.
Marseille had Samuel Gigot sent off for a dangerous tackle on Neymar.
The visitors had chances too with Jonathan Clauss denied well by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG, with nine wins and two draws from 11 games, are three points above Lorient at the top of the table.
Line-ups
PSG
Formation 4-3-1-2
- 99G Donnarumma
- 2Hakimi
- 5MarquinhosBooked at 74mins
- 15DaniloSubstituted forMukieleat 25′minutes
- 14Bernat
- 8Ruiz
- 6Verratti
- 17Vitinha
- 10NeymarSubstituted forSolerat 88′minutes
- 30MessiSubstituted forSarabiaat 79′minutes
- 7Mbappé
Substitutes
- 1Navas
- 18Renato Sanches
- 19Sarabia
- 26Mukiele
- 28Soler
- 31Bitshiabu
- 33Zaïre-Emery
- 35Gharbi
- 44Ekitike
Marseille
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 16López
- 99Mbemba
- 3BaillySubstituted forGigotat 44′minutesBooked at 72mins
- 5Balerdi
- 7Clauss
- 21Rongier
- 27VeretoutSubstituted forGueyeat 79′minutes
- 30TavaresSubstituted forKaboréat 70′minutes
- 6Guendouzi
- 77HaritBooked at 45minsSubstituted forÜnderat 71′minutes
- 70SánchezSubstituted forDiengat 79′minutes
Substitutes
- 4Gigot
- 8Santos da Silva
- 10Payet
- 11Suárez
- 12Dieng
- 17Ünder
- 22Gueye
- 29Kaboré
- 36Blanco
Live Text
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Match ends, Paris Saint Germain 1, Marseille 0.
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Second Half ends, Paris Saint Germain 1, Marseille 0.
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Pablo Sarabia (Paris Saint Germain) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Valentin Rongier (Marseille).
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Attempt saved. Cengiz Ünder (Marseille) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
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Attempt blocked. Pape Gueye (Marseille) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
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Bamba Dieng (Marseille) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Nordi Mukiele (Paris Saint Germain).
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Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Carlos Soler replaces Neymar.
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Corner, Paris Saint Germain. Conceded by Leonardo Balerdi.
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Attempt blocked. Fabián Ruiz (Paris Saint Germain) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Marco Verratti.
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Attempt blocked. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Pablo Sarabia.
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Attempt missed. Pablo Sarabia (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Kylian Mbappé.
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Attempt blocked. Vitinha (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Juan Bernat.
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Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Pablo Sarabia replaces Lionel Messi.
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Substitution, Marseille. Pape Gueye replaces Jordan Veretout.
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Substitution, Marseille. Bamba Dieng replaces Alexis Sánchez.
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Attempt missed. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint Germain) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is just a bit too high. Assisted by Kylian Mbappé following a fast break.
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Marquinhos (Paris Saint Germain) is shown the yellow card.
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Samuel Gigot (Marseille) is shown the red card.
