Paris Saint-Germain travelled to Normandy to face Stade Malherbe Caen last Friday night very much in need of a confidence boost. Unai Emery’s team came into the contest after back-to-back draws and a loss against AS Monaco—one of the worst stretches for the club since the Qatar takeover. All that would change by the end of the match against Caen however, as PSG won 6-0 including four goals from an unlikely source.
Edinson Cavani faced intense criticism stemming from his poor performance against Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League. Some even took their criticism of the striker to Twitter where they compared his somewhat comical finishing to the brilliance of Barcelona’s Luis Suarez. After his four-goal performance against Caen where he registered a 9.7 rating via whoscored.com, El Matador seems to have silenced his critics, even if temporarily.
Along with the goals, Cavani’s movement against Caen was superb. His runs into the box to meet Maxwell’s pinpoint crosses was fantastic to watch and led to two of his goals. Even the penalty he took was impressive (a powerful shot to the bottom left corner).
Speaking of penalties, Cavani added another goal to his resume against newly promoted Dijon FCO Tuesday evening as Adrien Rabiot was brought down in the box in the first half. PSG went on to win 3-0 at the Parc des Princes and Cavani is now tied with Alexandre Lacazette with the most goals scored in Ligue 1 at six. PSG also moved back to the top of the league after that brief dip in form.
Many will say that the Uruguayan can only perform like this against French competition and that the league is not a real test for him. Yet, PSG fans have plenty of reasons to stay positive. Against FC Metz at the start of the season, Cavani had many scoring chances but scored none, similar to what happened against Arsenal. Plus, five goals in two games is impressive no matter what league you play in.
PSG have a somewhat easy run of games before they host Olympique de Marseille on October 3. Now is the perfect time for Cavani to put his scoring boots on and show that he is ready to carry the team to the semi-finals of the Champions League, something Zlatan Ibrahimovic was unable to do.
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Photograph by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/Getty Images
José it is early yet, but we will see. Scoring against minnows can only build his confidence as the bigger games loom. Also, adjusting to the center forward position that was held by the Giant Swede for so long is also part of it. I think once El Matador settles he will be fine, however he will be judged on the big games, and that will eventually determine if we stick with the Uruguayan going forward or seek an alternative to lead the attack.
Nice point of view, Cavani definitely improving.