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Runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain avenged their League Cup loss to Guingamp by demolishing them 9-0 in an almost perfect display. PSG, who prevailed through trebles by Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe, a Neymar double and a Thomas Meunier goal, however, suffered the loss of Marco Verratti. The midfielder left the pitch after 13 minutes when a Guingamp player stepped on his ankle. There was another injury scare a few minutes later when Neymar stepped off the field holding his thigh, but he came back on and finished the match, helping PSG stretch their lead to 13 points with two games in hand. They have 53 points from 19 games to second-placed Lille's 40 from 21. Nine days after being knocked out of the League Cup quarterfinals with a 2-1 defeat by Guingamp at the Parc des Princes, PSG were on fire and came close to claiming the largest home win in the French top flight. The record was set in the 1935-36 season when Sochaux beat Valenciennes 12-1. Neymar opened the scoring in the 12th minute after collecting a superb through ball from Dani Alves, beating Marc-Aurele Caillard from close range. Mbappe made it 2-0 eight minutes before the break with a cool finish after a one-two with Neymar and doubled his tally on the stroke of halftime after Cavani dispossessed Felix Eboa Eboa in the box. He made it 4-0 in the 59th minute when he tapped in from Juan Bernat's cross. Cavani added another eight minutes later from Angel Di Maria's pinched cross, and only two minutes later, Neymar, perfectly set up by Mbappe, found the back of the net again. Guingamp's ordeal was far from being over, though. Cavani beat Caillard when he tapped in from Layvin Kurzawa's cross in the 76th, five minutes before Mbappe also secured a hat-trick after collecting his teammate's through ball. Defender Meunier rounded off the humiliation with a shot from inside the box. Mbappe, Neymar and Cavani have now netted a total of 44 goals in Ligue 1 with the Frenchman leading the scoring charts with 17 goals.
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EAG
