Paris Saint-Germain 4-0 Angers: Icardi gets up and running in Ligue 1

Paris Saint-Germain moved five points clear at the top heading into the international break as Mauro Icardi scored his first Ligue 1 goal.

Published : Oct 05, 2019 23:54 IST

Having opened his PSG account with the winner against Galatasaray in the Champions League, Mauro Icardi scored one more against Angers in Ligue 1.
Having opened his PSG account with the winner against Galatasaray in the Champions League, Mauro Icardi scored one more against Angers in Ligue 1.
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Having opened his PSG account with the winner against Galatasaray in the Champions League, Mauro Icardi scored one more against Angers in Ligue 1.

Mauro Icardi scored his first Ligue 1 goal with Neymar also on target as Paris Saint-Germain earned a routine 4-0 victory over in-form Angers at Parc des Princes. 

Having opened his PSG account with the winner against Galatasaray in the Champions League in midweek, Icardi - who squandered a great chance early on - doubled his tally for the season with a simple finish 37 minutes into his first Ligue 1 start. 

Icardi's effort put PSG 2-0 up, with Pablo Sarabia's neat strike having given Thomas Tuchel's side a 13th-minute lead. Idrissa Gueye joined Icardi and Sarabia in getting off the mark in Ligue 1 midway through the second half, before Neymar capped a fine individual display with his fourth goal of the season late on.

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Icardi should have made the breakthrough 10 minutes in, only to mishit his shot after rounding Ludovic Butelle. But Sarabia made no such mistake, arrowing a low strike beyond Butelle after leaving a glut of defenders in his wake.

Rachid Alioui should have restored parity when he went through against Keylor Navas, but Angers' top scorer lashed his effort wide. PSG duly made Angers pay - Sarabia turning provider with a drilled cross in for Icardi to finish first-time.

Sarabia had his second assist just before the hour, albeit in rather fortuitous fashion. After seeing a volley cleared off the line, Sarabia's sliced follow-up fell to Gueye, who turned home into the left-hand corner.

Butelle made a terrific save to prevent Neymar adding a fourth but the Brazilian, superb throughout, was not denied again in the 90th minute, coolly slotting in after skipping past Angers' goalkeeper.

What does it mean? PSG well on its way

Angers has made a fantastic start to the season and headed into Saturday's contest two points behind Ligue 1 pace-setter PSG, which has suffered two defeats already this term.

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But the gulf in quality was evident from the off and, with Lyon entrenched in mid-table and Lille - which finished second last season - having sold star player Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal, it is hard to see anybody mounting a challenge to its domestic dominance.

Neymar runs rings around Angers once again

Neymar had been involved in each of PSG's last three goals against Angers in Ligue 1 before Saturday and continued his excellent form against them this time out, rounding off his tremendous performance with a brilliantly taken goal.

Alioui fluffs his lines

After scoring three goals in his last two appearances, Alioui would have backed himself to hit the target again when faced with Navas, but with plenty of time to play with, he got his attempt horribly wrong, wasting one of Angers' only clear chances.

What's next?

Nice is PSG's first opponent after the international break, while Angers hosts Brest.

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