Di Maria sends PSG five points clear as Nice see red

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Angel Di Maria scores their first goal REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

PARIS (Reuters) - Angel Di Maria once again proved his worth with a double that earned Paris St Germain a 4-1 win at Nice and a five-point lead in the Ligue 1 standings on Friday.

The result put PSG on 24 points from 10 games as Nice, who reduced the arrears in the second half through Ignatius Ganago, finished with nine men after Wylan Cyprien and Christophe Herelle were sent off during the last 20 minutes.

Kylian Mbappe came off the bench in the closing stages to round off the win to mark his return from injury.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Angel Di Maria celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Nice are ninth on 13 points.

Nantes, who are second on 19 points, will play Metz on Saturday with Olympique Lyonnais new coach Rudi Garcia making his debut at home against Dijon in the day’s opening match.

With Mbappe and Edinson Cavani on the bench and Neymar injured, Mauro Icardi started up front but it was Di Maria who got PSG going.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Angel Di Maria scores their first goal REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Icardi flicked the ball into the path of Di Maria, who raced into the area and beat Walter Benitez from close range to put the visitors ahead in the 15th minute.

Benitez was beaten again six minutes later when Di Maria was played through on the right flank by Leandro Paredes and found the back of the net with a lovely angled lob.

PSG comfortably held off Nice, until Ganago, set up by Kasper Dolberg, unleashed a fierce strike that went under the bar in the 67th minute.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Angel Di Maria REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

But their hopes of levelling were dashed in the 74th minute when Cyprien was shown a second yellow card for protesting to referee Francois Letexier, who three minutes later handed Herelle a straight red card for elbowing Paredes.

“There was a foul against him and he got upset, there’s no logic there,” Ganago said of Cyprien’s red card.

Mbappe made his return from a thigh injury in the 82nd minute as he replaced Pablo Sarabia, scoring with a low shot from inside the box six minutes later.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Mauro Icardi celebrates scoring their fourth goal with team mates REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

One minute into added time, Icardi netted for the third match in a row when he tapped in from Mbappe’s cross.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe in action with OGC Nice's Dante REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 OGC Nice's Christophe Herelle is shown a red card by referee Francois Letexier REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Mauro Icardi in action with OGC Nice's Dante REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Mauro Icardi in action with OGC Nice's Dante REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Abdou Diallo in action with OGC Nice's Walter Benitez REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in action with OGC Nice's Walter Benitez REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain's Angel Di Maria REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - OGC Nice v Paris St Germain - Allianz Riviera, Nice, France - October 18, 2019 Paris St Germain coach Thomas Tuchel REUTERS/Eric Gaillard