French Ligue 1
Result: Paris Saint-Germain 5-0 Metz
Date: 10 March 2018
Venue: Parc de Princes
Paris Saint-Germain bounced back from the UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid to thump Metz 5-0 in Ligue 1 on Saturday evening.
The home side remain without the services of Neymar, who is expected to be out for the rest of the season.
Nevertheless, Thomas Meunier grabbed an early lead for the Parisians in the fifth minute after a deflection off Kylian Mbappe's strike fell kindly for him at the far post, 1-0.
Unai Emery's charges were confident on the ball after the goal although Metz were also asking questions going forward.
PSG scored a second goal in the 20th minute after Marco Verretti played a defence splitting pass for Christopher Nkunku, who made no mistake from close range.
Nkunku completed his brace eight minutes later for Emery's troops after going on a solo run before calmly slotting past Metz shot-stopper Eiji Kawashima.
Kylian Mbappe got on the scoresheet on the stroke of halftime with a neat finish at the near post after he was sent through by Verratti.
The second stanza started slowly with the visitors now unwilling to open up at the back in fear of conceding more.
PSG took their foot off the pedal with 20 minutes remaining, with the pace of the match being tampered by numerous substitutions.
Verratti was having a storming game in midfield, but was rested with Giovani Lo Celso coming on in his place for the final 20 minutes.
Kawashima was finally beaten in the second stanza as Thiago Silva powered through a free header inside the box seven minutes before time to round off a big win.
