Paris: The injured Neymar was left at home as Edinson Cavani reached a century of goals in Ligue 1 with a brace in Paris Saint-Germain’s 5-0 romp away to Angers, Saturday.
The world’s most expensive player sat out of the game at the Stade Raymond Kopa with a minor thigh problem picked up in the midweek Champions League win over Anderlecht but he was not missed as PSG maintained a four-point lead over Monaco at the summit.
A second successive five-goal victory for PSG means they remain unbeaten in all competitions this season, while Angers are still without a home win. As well as Neymar, PSG were without Marquinhos and Angel di Maria, whose partners have both given birth in recent days.
Their opener arrived inside five minutes as Mbappe turned in a Dani Alves cross from the right, and it was 2-0 soon when Alves set up Draxler for a delightful finish. The third goal that allowed Cavani to reach his century came at the end of a brilliant move, with Mbappe showcasing his lightning pace before setting up Cavani to blast home.
Cavani reached the landmark on his 145th Ligue 1 appearance and joins a select club in having scored 100 times in two of Europe’s big five leagues having also achieved the feat in Serie A. The only others to have done so are Gonzalo Higuain (Spain and Italy) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (France and Italy).
He is also well on course to catch Ibrahimovic as the club’s all-time top scorer in the league, with the Swede hitting 113 in his four seasons. Cavani hit his 101st – his 13th of this season – in trademark fashion, starting his run in the right-back position and bursting forward to collect a Draxler pass before toe-poking home.
Mbappe completed the rout as he rounded goalkeeper Mathieu Michel and scored from a tight angle after being released by Lucas Moura.
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