Paris Saint-Germain reached their third consecutive Coupe de France final in convincing fashion on Wednesday as they defeated an inexperienced AS Monaco side 5-0 at the Parc des Princes. The competition is the best remaining opportunity for PSG to win silverware this season leading Unai Emery to field a very strong starting lineup. Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim on the other hand has his team focused on the UEFA Champions League semi-final and maintaining their lead at the top of Ligue 1 resulting in many starters being left off the team sheet.
This 100th edition of the competition means a lot to us. If we win in the final, it will be the club’s 11th time winning this trophy. That’s why our objective was so clear tonight: beat Monaco in front of our fans.–Unai Emery, PSG.fr
PSG completely dominated Monaco’s “b-squad” to the tune of 74 percent possession and 24 shots (12 on target). Julian Draxler started the blowout in the 26th minute with the game’s first goal and it continued from there. Edinson Cavani, Blaise Matuidi, and Marquinhos all scored for the hosts on the night with Safwan Mbae adding an own-goal as well.
Cavani, who recently signed a contract that will keep him at the Parc until the summer of 2020, scored the game’s most spectacular goal and now has an impressive 45 in all competitions. The Uruguayan also added an assist earning him man of the match honors.
The win for PSG sets up a favorable Coupe de France final against Angers SCO on May 27. Before then, Les Parisiens have four games remaining to make up what is essentially a four-point gap between them and Monaco and it starts with a difficult trip to OGC Nice on Sunday.
Check out some of our favorite images from PSG’s 5-0 win over Monaco:
Subscribe to the PSG Talking podcast (iTunes) (Google Play) and follow us on Twitter @PSGTalk.
