PSG use Metz as punching bag in 5-0 thumping
On Saturday afternoon PSG were looking to go 14 points clear at the summit of a league that has been anything but competitive in recent years. Their next victim: bottom-of-the-league FC Metz.
Many pundits would’ve pronounced Metz dead on arrival at the Parc des Princes, but with Edinson Cavani suspended and Neymar injured, the visitors clung to a glimmer of hope as the game kicked-off.
It took just five minutes for Thomas Meunier to shatter any Metz optimism when the right-back produced a neat finish from a tight angle to give the Parisians an early lead. With nothing to lose, the away side began pressing high up the pitch, and it almost paid off when PSG were pickpocketed and Dossevi waltzed through on goal. The winger then watched on as his deflected effort ricocheted off the underside of Alphonse Areola’s crossbar and away from danger.
- Neymar who? -
There’s a new kid on the block, and his name is Christopher Nkunku. After his side’s slight lapse in concentration, the 20-year-old came up with a well-executed brace and sent Metz to the guillotine. Hungry to make an impact, Marco Verratti fed the youngster in the box for him to slot in for 2-0. Nkunku’s second came eight minutes later when he skipped past his marker and fizzed the ball low into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. 3-0.
The Frenchman then thought he’d bagged a first-half hat-trick when his header bounced past Eiji Kawashima, but the linesman waved his flag to spoil the party.
PSG’s fourth goal flew in off Kylian Mbappe’s boot. The boundlessly talented 19-year-old beat the offside trap and blasted the ball under the oncoming Kawashima with the last kick of the half. ‘4-0’ the scoreboard read as Metz cowered down the tunnel.
- Damage limitation -
Kawashima, fed up of picking the ball out of his net, decided enough was enough and shut up shop. When Nkunku flirted with the idea of a hat-trick, the Japanese shot-stopper clawed his bundled effort off the line. Adrien Rabiot thought he’d scored with a meanly-struck long shot, but the Metz keeper dove theatrically to parry away. Mbappe, whose feet are often quicker than his brain, lacked precision and was denied time and time again by Kawashima.
Only Thiago Silva could find a way past the inspired keeper in the second half when he ghosted unmarked into the penalty box to nod in from a corner. 5-0 and it was deja vu for the travelling fans who saw PSG bury five against their beloved side for the second time this season.
For 90 minutes, Metz served as PSG’s punching bag as they took out the pent up anger from a disappointing Champions League exit. Had the Parisians been more clinical, we could have witnessed a cricket score. The visitors, on the other hand, wouldn’t have found the net if the two sides had played all night.