Neymar on Wednesday set up the first two goals with curling set pieces as Paris Saint-Germain won their Coupe de la Ligue semi-final 3-0 away to Stade de Reims on a chilly night.
PSG are next to face Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Lille OSC on penalties on Tuesday, in the final at the Stade de France on April 4.
It was PSG’s second cup match in three days and coach Thomas Tuchel continued to shuffle his squad.
Photo: AFP
Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, who were unused substitutes as PSG won in the Coupe de France at Lorient on Sunday, started while Mauro Icardi and Angel di Maria, who began that game, shivered on the bench on a below-freezing evening in Champagne country.
The hosts — eighth in Ligue 1, 20 points behind PSG — also made changes from their past league game, as Reims coach David Guion reshuffled his midfield.
Neymar set up the first goal for his fellow Brazilian Marquinhos, another star brought back after a coach-enforced rest, after nine minutes.
Marquinhos, playing in central defense and as captain, raced in to meet an out-swinging Neymar corner. He outleaped the static Reims defenders and his powerful downward header had rebounded into the roof of the net before goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic could get close to it.
After 31 minutes, Neymar again aimed for Marquinhos with an in-swinging free-kick. When the centerback missed the ball, it caught the man marking him, Alaixys Romao, by surprise and he nodded it toward goal, where fullback Ghislain Konan sliced it into his own net.
Neymar, who produced a combative display, and Mbappe played the full 90 minutes, even though the game was settled by the 77th minute.
After 73 minutes, Reims midfielder Marshall Munetsi received a straight red card for scything down Marco Verratti.
Four minutes later, substitute Nianzou Kouassi forced a rebound over the line to put PSG, eliminated in the quarter-finals last year, three up and sure of a place in the final.
Tempers frayed near the end as Rajkovic was booked for shoving Mbappe in the back and knocking him over.
However, seconds before, Mbappe had needlessly kicked the ball away when Rajkovic was preparing to take a kick.
Mbappe received a yellow card in the last minute for scooping the ball into the net with his hand as he fell over when challenging Reims players for it.
Additional reporting by AP
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