Blanc hails ´hard to beat´ PSG

Coach Laurent Blanc revelled in a well-deserved 3-1 victory at Rennes as Paris Saint-Germain shrugged off their midweek loss to Benfica.

The defending French champions suffered a 2-1 UEFA Champions League loss in Portugal and Blanc demanded a reaction from his charges.

He duly got what he wanted on Saturday as Thiago Motta’s strike was added to by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s second-half penalty and Edinson Cavani’s stoppage-time effort, which rendered Romain Alessandrini’s goal a mere consolation.

“This is an important victory and deserved I think,” Blanc said.

“The boys are very well behaved with and without the ball. We scored three goals away. When you achieve the right ingredients like tonight, it is hard to beat.”

Motta’s opener was his first goal in Ligue 1 this season and helped PSG to their sixth away win of the domestic campaign.

“It is a nice goal, but the most important thing is that the team pocketed all three points,” the Italy international said. “That’s all that matters.

“We played well. The team showed great control for almost the entire match. We had good pressing and made the most of our opportunities.”