Paris Saint Germain produced a scintillating performance on Wednesday night as they dismissed Bayern Munich 3-0 at the Parc de Princes.
Unai Emery’s men went ahead early on as Dani Alves found the back of the net before Edinson Cavani produced a wonderful strike to double the lead before half-time. The most-expensive football ever Neymar added gloss to the evening with a close-range effort of his own to wrap-up an impressive victory for the hosts.
Lightning start from the hosts
The fans gathered at the Parc de Princes had barely sat down before they were up on their feet again as the game kicked-off. Following a mazy run from Brazilian superstar Neymar, the ex-Barcelona forward found Dani Alves at the back post. The 34-year-old then unleashed a fierce drive which took a nick off of goalkeeper Sven Ulreich and into the net in only the second minute.
Lewandowski, Müller and Martinez did have chances to equalise but their efforts were not accurate enough, the German going the closest by putting his close-range shot just wide.
Neymar could even have scored a goal of his own after creating the first. Put through on goal by Edinson Cavani, his first touch let him down and the ball trickled into the arms of the goalkeeper. Cavani himself then put a shot marginally wide as PSG looked to increase their advantage.
Cavani blasts the way into the break
The Parisian’s second goal did eventually come though and it was something very special. Kylian Mbappé and Dani Alves combined well on the right-wing before the ball found its way to the Uruguayan on the edge of the area. The ex-Napoli forward then swooped the ball into the top corner with his right boot.
Cavani was then gifted another opening but scuffed his shot in front of goal.
Changes afoot for Bayern
Going into the second half, Bayern manager Carlo Ancelotti made two changes. Sebastian Rudy and former PSG wide-man Kingsley Coman replaced Corentin Tolisso and James Rodríguez. The substitutions nearly had an immediate impact as Martinez’s header towards goal from a corner was cleared on the line by Thiago Silva.
Neymar then should really have stretched the lead even further following an exchange of passes with Mbappé. The former’s shot though was lashed wide. The Brazilian then put another shot the wrong side of the post from distance.
He eventually did get his goal with 30 minutes left on the clock. Following a lung-busting run from Dani Alves, Mbappé picked up the ball on the right-wing and showed excellent skill to skip past David Alaba and Niklas Süle. His shot was parried by Ulreich before Neymar arrived on the scene to smash the rebound into the roof of the net.
Bayern continued to toil throughout the match but Lewandowski looked increasingly isolated as the 90 minutes drew to a close and the home side wrapped-up a well-deserved victory.
Final Thoughts
Whilst Bayern Munich did at points look impressive, the attacking quality of Paris Saint Germain was just far too much to handle. The pace of the likes Kylian Mbappé and Neymar allowed Emery’s men to produce an absolutely scintillating performance at the Parc de Princes.
The home side’s defence also stood firm against the lethal Robert Lewandowski and contributed to a well-earned victory which sees them sit at the top of Group B in the UEFA Champions League on six points. Meanwhile, Carlo Ancelotti’s troops remain in second position with one win to their name.
PSG and the Bavarians come up against Anderlecht and Celtic respectively in European action next.
Match Report
Paris Saint Germain: Areola (7); Dani Alves (8), Thiago Silva (8), Marquinhos (7), Kurzawa (7); Verratti (8), Thiago Motta (7) (Lo Celso (6), 86′), Rabiot (7); Neymar (9), Mbappé (8) (Di María (6), 79′), Cavani (8).
Bayern Munich: Ulreich (5); Kimmich (6), Javi Martinez (7), Süle (6), Alaba (6); Tolisso (5) (Rudy (6), 45′), Thiago (6), Vidal (6); Müller (6) (Robben (6), 69′), Lewandowski (5), Rodríguez (5) (Coman (6), 45′).
Goals: Dani Alves (1-0, 2′), Cavani (2-0, 31′), Neymar (3-0, 63′)
Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz
Yellow cards: Kimmich (23′), Vidal (45′), Thiago (61′), Verratti (73′), Rudy (78′)
Red cards:
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