Champions Cup: PSG thrashes Leicester City

Paris Saint-Germain, the Ligue 1 champion, eased to a 4-0 win over Premier League champion Leicester City as recruit Grzegorz Krychowiak made his debut.

Published : Jul 31, 2016 12:18 IST

Paris Saint-Germain celebrates during its 4-0 win over Premier League champion Leicester City.
Paris Saint-Germain celebrates during its 4-0 win over Premier League champion Leicester City.
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Paris Saint-Germain celebrates during its 4-0 win over Premier League champion Leicester City.

Paris Saint-Germain eased to a 4-0 win over Premier League champion Leicester City as recruit Grzegorz Krychowiak made his debut. Krychowiak, an off-season signing from Sevilla, came on for the final half-hour as the Ligue 1 champion cruised in the International Champions Cup clash at the StubHub Center.

Edinson Cavani struck from the penalty spot and Jonathan Ikone was also on the scoresheet in the first half, before Lucas Moura and Odsonne Edouard came on to complete the win. It continued an impressive pre-season for Unai Emery and Co., adding to wins over Inter and Real Madrid.

PSG made no less than seven changes to the team that beat Real Madrid on Wednesday, with two-goal hero Thomas Meunier, Angel Di Maria, David Luiz, Maxwell, Thiago Motta, Benjamin Stambouli and Alphonse Areola all elevated to the starting XI. Kasper Schmeichel, Robert Huth, Shinji Okazaki and Jeffrey Schlupp all came in for Leicester City as Ron-Robert Zieler, Demarai Gray, Marc Albrighton and Danny Drinkwater made way.

PSG started well, dictating possession and keeping Leicester on the back foot without really creating anything clear-cut. Schmeichel was stranded in no-man's land following Di Maria's corner but Leicester survived as Motta's header at the far post was cleared by a diving Daniel Amartey.

PSG finally made its superiority count in the 26th minute after Ikone was brought down inside the box, and Cavani converted emphatically, sending Schmeichel the wrong way.

That sparked Leicester into action, with the English side close to equalising five minutes later following a thunderous free-kick from Riyad Mahrez, though Areola was equal to the task, pushing the set-piece away for a corner. Leicester almost restored parity from the resulting corner, Amartey's header flashing just wide of an open goal after Areola was caught out of position.

But just as Leicester was seemingly closing in on an equaliser , Ikone doubled PSG's lead against the run of play on the stroke of half-time, capping a swift counter-attacking move. PSG made six changes on the hour, with the likes of Adrien Rabiot, Lucas and Krychowiak introduced.

The Brazilian needed just minutes to have an impact, heading in a Maxwell cross from the left to make it 3-0. Both teams had their chances late on, with Edouard finishing neatly in a one-on-one as PSG continued its fine form under Emery.

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