Paris Saint-Germain returned to the top of the Ligue 1 table by beating rivals Marseille 3-2 in a thrilling match at the Stade Velodrome this evening.

Javier Pastore had the first chance of the match when he was slipped through on goal by Marco Verratti, but he placed his effort inches wide of the far post.

Marseille threatened with a strike of their own soon after when Mario Lemina was picked out on the edge of the box from a corner, before firing the ball high over bar.

PSG were finding plenty of space in the final third and Edinson Cavani wasted a decent opportunity when he mishit a close-range volley straight at Steve Mandanda.

However, It was Marseille who broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark, as Andre-Pierre Gignac rose at the back post to meet Dimitri Payet's cross and thump a powerful header beyond the reach of Salvatore Sirigu.

The visitors were dealt a further blow just minutes later when David Luiz pulled up with a hamstring injury and was unable to continue

PSG responded well to those setbacks and in the 35th minute they were back on level terms, as Blaise Matuidi worked some room on the edge of the box, before curling an effort into the top corner.

It appeared as though the teams would head into the break on level terms, but just two minutes before half time Verratti was caught in possession and the ball broke to Gignac, who raced through on goal to slide an effort past Sirigu and restore the home side's lead.

Gignac almost completed his hat-trick in first-half stoppage time, but his header was tipped over by Sirigu.

Marseille took their lead into the break, but within four minutes of the second half PSG equalised for the second time as Marquinhos pounced from close range to fire in after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's free kick had been blocked.

The hosts were then left stunned, as two minutes later Pastore's cross was turned into his own net by Jeremy Morel under pressure from Ibrahimovic to give PSG the lead for the first time in the match.

Ibrahimovic was causing plenty of problems for the Marseille defence and he headed just over from Gregory van der Wiel's cross, before seeing his shot from a tight angle blocked by the keeper.

Matuidi saw his fierce effort saved at the near post by Mandanda and Pastore drilled narrowly wide following a solo run, as PSG continued to cause the home side problems.

Marseille were struggling to create any clear-cut chances down the other end of the pitch, with Payet firing straight into the gloves of Sirigu.

As the game wore on the hosts left themselves wide open to the counter-attack and Ibrahimovic drilled inches wide following a quick break.

The PSG captain came close again soon after when he was found inside the box by Adrien Rabiot and saw his fierce attempt turned over by Mandanda.

Despite those misses, PSG were not made to pay, as they saw the game out with relative ease to claim the points and move a point above Lyon at the top of Ligue 1.