The defender, who has endured a challenging start to life in the French capital since his switch from Real Madrid, opened his account for Mauricio Pochettino's side with a close-range second-half finish at the Parc des Princes.

Marco Verratti began the scoring with his first league goal in just under five years, while Wout Faes' own goal and a Danilo Pereira strike sealed the points as the hosts moved 11 points clear at the top of the table.

PSG, who welcomed back Lionel Messi off the bench after his absence due to COVID-19, have now won the last four Ligue 1 meetings between these sides, keeping a clean sheet on each occasion.

Unbeaten in 13 home league games, PSG quickly took control of proceedings.

Pereira headed over from a corner, while Kylian Mbappe shot straight at Predrag Rajkovic.

The hosts broke through just before halftime; Mauro Icardi's blocked effort ricocheting for Verratti, who beat Rajkovic with a sweetly struck shot.

Seeking only a third win from 15 away matches, Reims almost found a leveller after the break. Nathanael Mbuku drew a smart save out of Keylor Navas, before Hugo Ekitike sent the rebound over.

However, it was PSG who doubled their lead in the 62nd minute as Ramos prodded home at the second attempt after his initial strike following a corner was parried by Rajkovic.

Five minutes later, two became three with Verratti's strike taking two deflections - the latter off Faes - before nestling in the far corner.

Icardi was denied shortly afterwards before Pereira got in on the act with a quarter of an hour remaining, latching onto Mbappe's centre before his deflected shot flew past Rajkovic.

Elsewhere, Nice reclaimed second spot with a 2-0 win over lowly Metz, with second-half goals from Khephren Thuram and Amine Gouiri.

The 21-year-old Gouiri started the match in place of striker Andy Delort -- who was ruled out shortly before kick off due to illness -- and delivered an outstanding performance.

He provided the assist for Thuram's opener before converting from the penalty spot with a Panenka -- to join Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe as the only players under the age of 23 to have scored at least 10 goals and registered 5 or more assists in one of Europe's top five leagues this season.

Montpellier grabbed a hard-fought 3-2 win against Monaco, Strasbourg were beaten 4-3 in a thrilling game with Bordeaux while Nantes beat Lorient 4-2, Angers edged Troyes 2-1 and Clermont overcame Rennes by the same score.

with AP

Australian Associated Press