Angers anger Paris Saint-Germain as Cavani fails to make his mark

Paris Saint-Germain had to settle for a scoreless draw against Angers in Ligue 1 on Tuesday as Edinson Cavani failed to make an impact.

The former Napoli star led the line for PSG as Zlatan Ibrahimovic was rested, but Cavani was unable to make the most of the opportunity.

The Uruguay international hit the upright early on, but was largely ineffective otherwise, as PSG’s nine-match winning streak in the league came to an end.

Serge Aurier and Angel Di Maria also came close to opening the scoring before the break, but the former was denied by Angers goalkeeper Ludovic Butelle, while the latter hit the post.

Cheikh N’Doye had a big chance to find the net for Angers, but Kevin Trapp denied him as it remained scoreless at the Stade Jean-Bouin.

Cavani almost proved head coach Laurent Blanc right to select him ahead of Ibrahimovic after just six minutes of play. The attacker beat his marker to the ball after a fine corner from Di Maria, but his header at the near post hit the upright as the hosts escaped.

The reigning champions continued to dominate proceedings and Aurier came close to opening the scoring with a powerful shot from inside the area after being set up by Blaise Matuidi, but Butelle showed his class with a good save.

Blanc’s men got yet another good chance to break the deadlock at the half-hour mark. Di Maria chased a long ball down the right before cutting inside and unleashing a curled shot toward the far corner of the net, only to see his effort bounce off the post.

Angers threatened shortly before the interval when N’Doye headed the ball across goal for Gilles Sunu, but the former Arsenal youngster arrived too late to tap home from close range.

The home side made a strong start to the second half and could have grabbed the lead in the 48th minute. N’Doye beat David Luiz to a corner from the left, yet Trapp pulled off a superb save to deny the Senegalese.

PSG got a fine chance of their own just minutes later when Adrien Rabiot did well to reach Lucas Moura with a cross from the left, only for the Brazil international to volley just wide from 15 yards out.

Di Maria fired in a dangerous free-kick at the hour mark, but Butelle reacted superbly to make the save and keep his side’s hopes of springing a surprise alive.

Abdoul Camara tried his luck with 20 minutes to go after dancing past his marker, yet the winger aimed too high as the chance went begging.

The reigning champions kept on pushing for a late goal and both Maxwell and Cavani got late chances to fire them to victory, but neither of them managed to beat Butelle.

Substitute Ibrahimovic saw a free-kick in the closing stages of the game blocked by the wall, with the rebound falling to Rabiot, who saw his shot kept out by the outstanding Butelle.