Paris Saint-Germain 5 Monaco 0: Emery´s men book Coupe de France final spot
Paris Saint-Germain cruised to a 5-0 victory over Monaco in the Coupe de France semi-final after the visitors rested key players at Parc des Princes with an eye on their Ligue 1 and Champions League fixtures.
It was the second time in a month that Monaco have suffered a heavy defeat to their title rivals, following a 4-1 loss in the Coupe de la Ligue final, and Leonardo Jardim’s young fringe players could not cope with a PSG side determined to clinch a domestic cup double.
Experienced Monaco goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis was frequently left exposed throughout the game but it was his error that allowed Julian Draxler to open the scoring after 26 minutes and Edinson Cavani celebrated his new PSG deal by making it 2-0 five minutes later.
Defender Safwan Mbae suffered a cruel blow on his debut when he inadvertently turned the ball into his own net in the 50th minute and Blaise Matuidi followed up with a fourth goal just two minutes later, before Marquinhos wrapped up the scoring in the final minute.
PSG will face Angers in the final and Unai Emery’s men, who have now won their last nine consecutive games in all competitions, will be confident of securing an 11th Coupe de France trophy for the club.
FULL TIME: PSG ease into the @coupedefrance final with a 5-0 win over Monaco!! #PSGASMpic.twitter.com/jXXzWbQT2b
— PSG English (@PSG_English) April 26, 2017
Cavani was left completely unmarked in the penalty area after four minutes when Angel Di Maria landed a cross on his head, but the Uruguayan striker’s effort lacked the power to trouble De Sanctis.
PSG spent much of the early part of the game in total control but when Monaco finally did break it took a good save from Alphonse Areola to keep out Abdou Diallo’s well-aimed header.
A mistake by De Sanctis gifted PSG the opener after 26 minutes when Di Maria’s speculative shot was fumbled by the Italian goalkeeper and Cavani was on hand to poke the ball through to Draxler, who rolled it into an empty net.
There was nothing fumbled about the second goal, which arrived five minutes later when Cavani received Di Maria’s low cross from the by-line and flicked the ball round the back of his standing leg and into the far corner of the net with expert skill.
Di Maria continued to carve Monaco’s youthful defence open and he set Matuidi up for a shot that hit the post shortly before half-time arrived to rescue the beleaguered visitors.
The game all but ended as a contest five minutes into the second half when Maxwell’s cross bounced up into the body of Mbae and the 19-year-old could only rifle the ball into the roof of his own net after it had crossed the line for 3-0.
Two minutes later, Di Maria tore Monaco apart again, bursting into the box and rolling the ball across the face of goal to Matuidi, who stroked it into the net at the far post.
Jardim’s young charges did show signs of promise and Areola made a brilliant one-handed save from Adrien Bongiovanni’s spectacular long-range attempt after 73 minutes.
PSG substitute Lucas Moura almost got among the goals when he dragged a shot narrowly wide of the far post from an angle, but it was Marquinhos who did make it 5-0 when Maxwell’s shot hit Matuidi and left him an open net to aim at.
