No Zlatan Ibrahimovic, no problem. In fact, without the icon, Paris Saint-Germain got a chance to show off some somewhat forgotten talents against visiting Lorient, with Lucas Moura and Jérémy Menez putting Ligue 1‘s leaders up two by the 40th minute. Add in a brace from Edinson Cavani, and the Parisians had another one-sided result, dismissing les Merlus 4-0 at the Parc de Princes.
It was the fourth time in six league games PSG had won by three or more, and while a few close games are interspersed in that run (2-1 over Marseille; 2-2 with Saint-Etienne), Laurent Blanc’s team have displayed a gear they never quite achieved last year under Carlo Ancelotti.
While that team won the French first division for the third time in club history, this one’s threatening to do so in style. Through 12 rounds the team is still undefeated (8-0-4), scoring 24 goals while conceding only seven times. Though Monaco and Lille are close behind at the top of the table, PSG’s putting pressure on them to keep up. This team seems poised to pull away at a moment’s notice.
Laurent Blanc deserves a lot of the credit, even if this space has cast our share of doubts on PSG’s first-year boss. The former Bordeaux man, however, has emphasized a possession game that’s helped produce these one-sided affairs. On Friday, PSG maintained 62 percent of the ball, two ticks below their league-best average (64.1 perfect). The 16.7 shots they’re averaging are three more than the league’s second-best mark.
That attack started today’s scoring in the third minute when a cross from Lucas Digne found Lucas Moura even with the far post. The Brazilian waited for the looping ball to fall to his right foot before blasting the day’s opening goal past Fabien Audard, beating the Lorient keeper from just outside the six-yard box.
Marco Veratti set up Menez for the second, giving PSG a 2-0 lead before Edinson Cavani moved to the top of the league’s scoring charts, heading into an abandoned net to send PSG into half up 3-0. Late the second, a tap in allowed the Uruguayan to complete his double for two yards out, his ninth goal of the year passing Monaco’s Radamel Falcao for the top spot in Ligue 1.
And to think: This was a somewhat shorthanded PSG team. Ibrahimovic is nursing a knee problem, while Ezequiel Lavezzi and Blaise Matuidi came off the bench. Maxwell and Gregory van der Weil sat out. Thiago Silva is still out injured. Yet Blanc’s side still ran out 4-0 winners, their early goal allowing them to pass their way through 90 drama-free minutes.
Against a Lorient side struggling in 17th, perhaps that shouldn’t be a huge surprise. But that doesn’t make PSG’s performance any less outstanding, and it doesn’t mean PSG aren’t making progress. Whereas last year they were champions, this year they have a chance to be great. Friday’s performance was just the latest hint of their potential.
