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2018-19 French Ligue 1, Regular Season
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Reuters 5y

PSG win over Bordeaux marred by Cavani injury with Manchester United clash looming

Paris Saint Germain got back to winning ways in Ligue 1 on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat of Bordeaux but the French champions lost striker Edinson Cavani through injury ahead of their Champions League trip to Manchester United.

Cavani opened the scoring with a 42nd-minute penalty before holding his thigh and leaving the pitch, three days before PSG take on United in the round of 16.

PSG coach Thomas Tuchel is already without Brazil striker Neymar, who was ruled out of both legs with a foot injury. The result put leaders PSG on 59 points from 22 games, 13 ahead of second-placed Lille, who have played a game more. 

There was some good news for PSG as midfielder Marco Verratti returned to the line-up after recovering from an ankle injury. The Italy international played almost an hour before being replaced by Leandro Paredes.

Verratti is now expected to start on Tuesday against a resurgent United side who claimed their 10th win in 11 games under caretaker coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when they beat Fulham 3-0 on Saturday.

PSG, who suffered their first league defeat this season against Lyon last weekend, were in control against mid-table Bordeaux.

Cavani broke the deadlock with a penalty for his 17th goal in 16 league games this season after Thomas Meunier had been fouled in the area. Meunier was later replaced following a head clash with a Bordeaux player.

A couple of minutes later Cavani limped off the pitch clutching his thigh, prompting Tuchel to replace him with Kylian Mbappe, who had been expected to be rested ahead of Tuesday's clash.

The France international is now likely to start as a lone striker at Old Trafford, supported by Julian Draxler and Angel Di Maria. The second half was relatively poor, with PSG players, wearing shirts with their names written in Mandarin to mark the Chinese New Year, taking no risks and a Bordeaux side lacking in creativity.

The visitors' only clear chance after the break came in the 61st minute when Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a superb save to tip away Francois Kamano's 25-metre strike.

Bordeaux are 12th on 28 points.

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