Paris Saint-Germain are within touching distance of a 10th Ligue 1 crown after dishing out a 3-0 battering to Angers. Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring for the visitors, while Ángel Di María was on top form as they sauntered to victory, despite missing an injured Lionel Messi and suspended Neymar.
The two sides traded chances early on as Sofiane Boufal had a fierce shot brilliantly saved by Keylor Navas, before Thilo Kehrer saw a header punched clear for PSG. Angers’ top scorer Boufal was then worryingly stretchered off with a muscle injury, which could come as a big blow to their hopes of avoiding relegation.
The deadlock was broken on 28-minutes when Mbappé smashed the visitors in front, bursting past Nabil Bentaleb before arrowing a pin-point effort into the far bottom corner. Gérald Baticle’s side came close to an equaliser as Mohamed-Ali Cho curled just past the post, but any hopes of a revival were quashed before the break when Sergio Ramos headed home Di María’s cross.
PSG continued on the front foot after the break, with Achraf Hakimi bursting into the box and seeing a shot saved, a chance that was sandwiched in between two further Mbappé efforts, the latter of which was a low, rasping drive that Anthony Mandrea superbly stopped. Angers meanwhile were flat, with their spirits further dampened when a penalty awarded in their favour was overturned by VAR.
At the other end, Gini Wijnaldum fired off-target, but Mauricio Pochettino’s side got a well deserved third when captain Marquinhos was left unmarked in the box and nodded Di María’s cross into an empty net. It was not a blemish free night for the visitors though, as Edouard Michut, making only his fifth senior appearance, was shown a straight red card in added time for a foul on Romain Thomas.
The result, coupled with Marseille’s victory over Nantes, means PSG need one point from their remaining five games to reclaim the title they surrendered to Lille last season. Angers meanwhile hang just three points above the relegation zone.
