Angel Di Maria scores, Edinson Cavani gets brace as PSG beat Rennes

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:25 am

Edinson Cavani struck twice as Paris Saint-Germain continued their march towards the Ligue 1 title with a 4-1 home thrashing of Stade Rennais on Sunday.

In the absence of the injured Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria also found the back of the net after Mbaye Niang had cancelled out Cavani's early opener.

Leaders PSG now have 56 points from 20 games and lead second-placed Lille, who beat Olympique de Marseille 2-1 away on Friday and have played two more games, by 13 points.

Olympique Lyonnais, who are on 40 points, consolidated third place when Jason Denayer earned them a 1-0 win at strugglers Amiens earlier on Sunday.

Angel Di Maria and his PSG squad had little issue against Stade Rennais on Sunday.
FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images

At the Parc des Princes, Rennes were a match for PSG for 45 minutes but they cracked under the home side's relentless pressure after the break.

Cavani headed home from close range in the seventh minute to give Thomas Tuchel's side a perfect start, only for Niang to equalise in the 28th with a clever backheel.

Di Maria, however, restored the advantage on the hour by flicking the ball past Tomas Koubek after collecting Thiago Silva's long pass.

Ligue 1 top scorer Mbappe netted his 18th goal of the season six minutes later with a strike from inside the box.

Cavani made it 4-1 in the 71st minute when he latched on to a Mbappe cross.

Elsewhere, strugglers Toulouse and Angers drew 0-0.