Paris Saint-Germain 3 - 0 Caen: Neymar off the mark as Paris St Germain beat Caen
Posted Monday, August 13, 2018 by PA
Neymar took just 10 minutes of the new season to get off the mark as Paris St Germain beat Caen 3-0.
The champions cruised as Adrien Rabiot added a second 10 minutes before half-time and Tim Weah added a late flourish.
Neymar scored 26 goals as PSG romped to the title last term, and the Brazil striker wasted little time in opening his account for the new campaign.
But it was something of a gift for the hosts after a poor clearance from Caen keeper Brice Samba.
Christopher Nkunku collected the loose ball and instantly played it through to Neymar, who needed no second invitation to whip his shot across Samba and into the net.
Samba made a better fist of keeping out Antoine Bernede’s shot from outside the area and then got down well to deny Angel Di Maria.
At the other end Gianluigi Buffon, making his Ligue 1 debut at the tender age of 40, was forced into action for the first time to keep out Malik Tchokounte’s shot.
But PSG doubled their lead five minutes before half-time following a lightning counter-attack.
Di Maria left the Caen defence for dead before unselfishly squaring the ball for Rabiot to tap home.
Adama Mbengue had a chance to halve the deficit before half-time but he blazed over from a corner.
Caen came even closer seven minutes after the interval when a Stef Peeters free-kick beat Buffon but clattered the post.
PSG pressed for a third but Samba made good saves from Di Maria’s header and Nkunku’s long-range drive.
Neymar clearly fancied another but curled two free-kicks over the crossbar before he was substituted with eight minutes remaining.
His replacement Weah added a third from close range with a minute to go to wrap up a decent night’s work for the title holders.
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