Paris Saint-Germain hit five to ease pain of Real Madrid defeat

Paris Saint-Germain brushed aside bottom club Metz 5-0 in Ligue 1 on Saturday to ease some of the pain of their Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid in midweek.

Twenty-year-old Christopher Nkunku scored twice for PSG at the Parc des Princes, with Thomas Meunier, Kylian Mbappe and Thiago Silva also on target.


The result restores PSG’s 14-point lead over reigning champions Monaco at the top of the table with just nine games left, keeping them on course to reclaim the title.

A clean sweep of the domestic trophies for the third time in four seasons is on the cards, although that will not completely make up for the disappointment of another disappointing campaign in the Champions League.

Tuesday’s 2-1 home defeat against Madrid condemned them to a second consecutive exit from that competition in the last 16 and effectively ended any prospect of Spanish coach Unai Emery still being in charge next season.

Emery had to somehow lift his side for this game, with PSG missing suspended leading scorer Edinson Cavani as well as the injured Neymar.

Belgian right-back Meunier, in for Dani Alves, opened the scoring inside five minutes, and Nkunku put the game beyond Metz before the half-hour mark with two low finishes.

He was unlucky not to get a hat-trick, a header from Angel di Maria’s cross on the stroke of half-time disallowed for a marginal offside call.

However, Mbappe did make it 4-0 before the interval by scoring after being set up by Marco Verratti.

Captain Silva headed in late on to complete the scoring, as Paris maintained their perfect record at home in the league this season.

Second-placed Monaco won 3-1 at Strasbourg on Friday with Stevan Jovetic, Rony Lopes and Fabinho getting their goals.

Third-placed Marseille go to Toulouse and fourth-placed Lyon host Caen on Sunday.