Bordeaux 0 Paris Saint-Germain 3: Cavani and Di Maria fire warning shot to Barcelona

Two goals from Edinson Cavani helped Paris Saint-Germain to a commanding 3-0 Ligue 1 victory over Bordeaux that will have caught the attention of Barcelona.

Cavani struck twice either side of a clever finish from Angel Di Maria to secure the three points that put the champions level with Monaco at the top of the table on 55, albeit having played a game more.

PSG face an eagerly anticipated Champions League last-16 meeting with Barca next week and Friday’s performance will give Unai Emery plenty of confidence in their chances of springing a surprise on the Spanish champions.

High-pressing Bordeaux were allowed more of the ball than a number of PSG’s opponents have been this season but they were undone by some clinical counter-attacking football from the visitors.

Cavani opened the scoring after only six minutes with a spectacular volley before Di Maria combined with fit-again Marco Verratti to make it 2-0 before the break.

Di Maria turned provider for Cavani’s second shortly after half-time and there proved to be no way back for Bordeaux, who have now won only one of their last 12 games against PSG in the top flight.

The Argentina winger was given some rest in the second half, along with Verratti and Cavani, as Emery now turns his attention towards the visit of Luis Enrique’s side to Parc des Princes.

buts en @Ligue1 cette saison pour El Matador ! #FCGBPSG
#AllezParis pic.twitter.com/lBaJk6wdbs

— PSG Officiel (@PSG_inside) February 10, 2017

The home crowd was in boisterous mood at kick-off but the stadium was almost silenced after six minutes thanks to Cavani’s spectacular opener.

Marquinhos’ long ball towards Cavani was only partly headed clear by Vukasin Jovanovic, allowing Cavani to lash a controlled volley into Cedric Carrasso’s bottom-right corner from 20 yards out.

PSG sensed a chance to seize control of proceedings and continued to press the attack in the opening 20 minutes. Carrasso made a smart save to keep out Di Maria’s half-volley, before a Lucas Moura free-kick caused havoc in the Bordeaux penalty area, leading to another Di Maria half-chance.

Diego Rolan shot straight at Kevin Trapp – back from injury in place of the under-fire Alphonse Areola – following Bordeaux’s first good attacking move of the match, but just as the hosts looked to be gaining a foothold, PSG doubled their lead with a devastating counter-attack five minutes before half-time.

Verratti won back possession and, after exchanging passes with Lucas, he slid a sublime throughball into the path of Di Maria, who clipped a delicate finish over Carrasso and into the net.

Bordeaux heads looked to have dropped and any hope of a comeback was well and truly quashed within two minutes of the restart, as Cavani – albeit with less of a clean contact this time – steered another volley across goal and into the bottom corner from just inside the area, after he had been picked out by a terrific curling cross from Di Maria.

Rolan almost got a goal back after Presnel Kimpembe’s clearance rebounded off the striker and bounced narrowly wide, but PSG were largely untroubled in the closing stages as they secured a sixth win in seven league matches to put pressure on Monaco ahead of their meeting with Metz on Saturday.