Paris Saint-Germain beat Monaco with brace from Edinson Cavani
Edinson Cavani struck twice in the second half as Paris St Germain maintained the perfect start to their Ligue 1 campaign at the expense of Monaco.
The 3-0 victory at the Stade Louis II also saw a cameo debut for Angel Di Maria, the £44million summer signing from Manchester United. He came off the bench midway through the second half and played a defense-splitting long pass to set up Ezequiel Lavezzi for the third goal.
Monaco pushed the Parisians hard for the French title two years ago but a gap in class has developed between the erstwhile rivals. While Monaco have allowed star names to depart, PSG continue to bring in quality. That was made particularly clear ahead of this game when the capital side bought France left-back Layvin Kurzawa from Monaco for a hefty £17million-plus fee, draining the principality side of another talent. Kurzawa sat this one out, seeing his new side outplay his former club rather than play an active part. Before half-time it was all threat but little substance from Cavani, his repeated efforts to break the deadlock only leading to frustration.
But he took his chances in the second period, heading the opener after 58 minutes and rolling in the second goal before Lavezzi capped a successful night with a powerful finish for the third. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic back in action after a knee injury, Di Maria looking the part over the final 25 minutes, and the defense keeping Monaco at bay, it amounted to another good night for Laurent Blanc's visitors, who have won all four of their Ligue 1 games so far to nudge three points clear already.
Ibrahimovic curled an early effort wide before a flurry of chances came Cavani's way. The former Napoli frontman made an awful mess of an attempted scissor-kick volley, headed over from Serge Aurier's cross, and then saw a soft shot easily gathered by Danijel Subasic. Ibrahimovic lobbed off target, Thiago Silva headed wide, and Cavani also missed the goal from yet another chance carved out for him.
The spurned chances might have looked costly had Monaco's Stephen El Shaarawy done better early in the second half, when his 16-yard shot was parried at head height by goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. They were soon forgotten though, once Cavani found the target emphatically, finding a yard of space at the near post to nod Blaise Matuidi's left-wing cross into the top corner.
Matuidi drew a save from Subasic with a rather soft shot that may have been trickling into the right corner, before Di Maria made his entrance, replacing Lucas Moura. Cavani, fed with a through-ball from the cunning Ibrahimovic, doubled the lead in the 74th minute when he slotted under Subasic.
Lavezzi rammed home arguably the goal of the night 10 minutes later when Di Maria, strolling across midfield in his own half, picked out the run of his fellow Argentinian who lashed home into the right corner from 15 yards. Given PSG had won just three times in 39 trips to Monaco, taking three points by any means would have been welcomed. That they prevailed so resoundingly suggests a fourth successive Ligue 1 title should be well within their reach.
