Paris Saint-Germain made it nine successive Ligue 1 victories with a confident 4-1 win over bottom club Troyes in their first home game since November 13’s terror attacks on their city.
Edinson Cavani notched his eighth league goal of the season early on to set Laurent Blanc’s men on their way to extending an unbeaten start to the campaign.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted from the penalty spot just before the hour mark to take his tally to 10 goals in as many league games.
Layvin Kurzawa added a third with a stylish finish midway through the second half before teenage substitute Jean-Kevin Augustin notched his first senior goal late on.
Troyes grabbed a consolation in injury time when Thomas Ayasse netted but the visitors’ winless season continued.
The match was preceded by a series of tributes to the victims of the attacks which killed 130 people in the capital, with a huge French flag on the pitch and another formed by cards distributed to spectators.
The club anthem O Ville Lumiere and the French national anthem were both played before a pre-match minute’s silence and a video tribute from famous faces from the world of sport, while PSG’s players again bore the slogan ‘Je Suis Paris’ on their shirts.
The hosts made a positive start and could easily have been two up inside the opening five minutes, but for some decent goalkeeping and some wasteful finishing by Cavani.
Firstly, great work from Angel Di Maria presented Cavani with a chance but his header was smartly saved by Paul Bernardoni in the Troyes goal.
Then, from the resulting corner, Cavani failed to find the target with a near-post header when a goal seemed the most likely outcome.
PSG were not having things all their own way though and, when Chris Mavinga played in Fabien Camus, it looked like Troyes might take a shock lead but Kevin Trapp made a decent stop to keep the scores level.
Despite that score, it was PSG who made the breakthrough just before the 20-minute mark, when Di Maria picked out an unmarked Cavani with a superb pass and the Uruguay striker did the rest with a confident volley.
The current champions continued to create the better chances as half-time approached but Ibrahimovic’s effort from inside the area could only find the side netting and Cavani failed to find the target after getting the better of Johan Martial and Matthieu Saunier.
The interval did nothing to stem PSG’s flow and they were gifted a chance to double their advantage when Mavinga stuck out a leg to bring down Lucas inside the area.
Ibrahimovic took charge and, as expected, confidently dispatched the spot-kick beyond Bernardoni with the aid of the post to double the champions’ lead.
A routine win was wrapped up in stunning fashion with just under 25 minutes to play when Kurzawa controlled 25 yards out before sending a clinical volley into the bottom corner.
There was still time for the hosts to add a fourth goal when the impressive Di Maria picked out Augustin and the youngster did the rest with an effort from distance that evaded Bernardoni.
Ayasse netted for Troyes in added time with a well-taken 25-yard lob but that did little to improve the mood in the visitors’ camp.
Edinson Cavani notched his eighth league goal of the season early on to set Laurent Blanc’s men on their way to extending an unbeaten start to the campaign.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted from the penalty spot just before the hour mark to take his tally to 10 goals in as many league games.
Layvin Kurzawa added a third with a stylish finish midway through the second half before teenage substitute Jean-Kevin Augustin notched his first senior goal late on.
Troyes grabbed a consolation in injury time when Thomas Ayasse netted but the visitors’ winless season continued.
The match was preceded by a series of tributes to the victims of the attacks which killed 130 people in the capital, with a huge French flag on the pitch and another formed by cards distributed to spectators.
The club anthem O Ville Lumiere and the French national anthem were both played before a pre-match minute’s silence and a video tribute from famous faces from the world of sport, while PSG’s players again bore the slogan ‘Je Suis Paris’ on their shirts.
The hosts made a positive start and could easily have been two up inside the opening five minutes, but for some decent goalkeeping and some wasteful finishing by Cavani.
Firstly, great work from Angel Di Maria presented Cavani with a chance but his header was smartly saved by Paul Bernardoni in the Troyes goal.
Then, from the resulting corner, Cavani failed to find the target with a near-post header when a goal seemed the most likely outcome.
PSG were not having things all their own way though and, when Chris Mavinga played in Fabien Camus, it looked like Troyes might take a shock lead but Kevin Trapp made a decent stop to keep the scores level.
Despite that score, it was PSG who made the breakthrough just before the 20-minute mark, when Di Maria picked out an unmarked Cavani with a superb pass and the Uruguay striker did the rest with a confident volley.
The current champions continued to create the better chances as half-time approached but Ibrahimovic’s effort from inside the area could only find the side netting and Cavani failed to find the target after getting the better of Johan Martial and Matthieu Saunier.
The interval did nothing to stem PSG’s flow and they were gifted a chance to double their advantage when Mavinga stuck out a leg to bring down Lucas inside the area.
Ibrahimovic took charge and, as expected, confidently dispatched the spot-kick beyond Bernardoni with the aid of the post to double the champions’ lead.
A routine win was wrapped up in stunning fashion with just under 25 minutes to play when Kurzawa controlled 25 yards out before sending a clinical volley into the bottom corner.
There was still time for the hosts to add a fourth goal when the impressive Di Maria picked out Augustin and the youngster did the rest with an effort from distance that evaded Bernardoni.
Ayasse netted for Troyes in added time with a well-taken 25-yard lob but that did little to improve the mood in the visitors’ camp.
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