PSG power clear in France

Paris St Germain threw down the gauntlet to Monaco as they beat Lorient 4-0 to go three points clear at the top.

Paris St Germain threw down the gauntlet to Monaco ahead of the Ligue 1 weekend as they beat Lorient 4-0 to go three points clear at the top. With the division's two big-spenders jostling for position in the title race, Laurent Blanc's men sent a stark warning out as they hit four without star man Zlatan Ibrahimovic. With Monaco now heading to third-placed Lille needing a win to catch up, the capital club can relax after three points earned with goals from Lucas Moura and Jeremy Menez, and a brace from Edinson Cavani. That they did it without Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva will be of even greater comfort, although in truth they were never in danger. Just three minutes had gone when Moura opened the scoring with a far-post volley off a Lucas Digne cross, with his brilliant strike giving Fabien Audard no chance as it went in off the post. Lorient's plight worsened as Jeremie Aliadiere limped off, with goalkeeper Audard soon following as their evening unravelled. Replacement stopper Baptiste Reynet's first task was to panic as a Cavani strike whistled over his bar, before he was bending down to pick the ball up after Menez beat him with a first-time shot from inside the area after a Digne pass. Lorient briefly rallied after that as Salvatore Sirigu scrambled a Kevin Monet-Paquet header off the line, but they quickly found themselves three goals down as half-time approached. A nice move set Moura free down the right and with Reynet deciding the best way to stop him was to race off his line, the goal was left unguarded. He quickly realised this but as he turned to sprint back, Moura crossed for Cavani who headed in before Reynet could recover. PSG knew the job was done at the break and their intensity dropped after it, leaving it until the 73rd minute to threaten again as Adrien Rabiot scraped the post from the edge of the area. A fourth did arrive nine minutes from time as Cavani again exploited a vacant goal. Menez's corner found Rabiot, his header was pushed away but, with Reynet on the deck, Cavani was able to pick his spot.