An injury to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a post-match incident that left Thiago Motta with a fractured nose overshadowed Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 triumph against SC Bastia at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.
Ibrahimovic appeared to strain a muscle in his side in innocuous fashion early on and lasted barely 15 minutes before making way for Ezequiel Lavezzi.
In his absence, Lucas opened the scoring in the 26th minute and Edinson Cavani doubled PSG’s advantage just before the hour mark to score his first of the campaign and give the hosts their first victory in Ligue 1 after their season-opening 2-2 draw at Stade de Reims.
Photo: AFP
However, at fulltime in Paris, Motta, wearing the captain’s armband after Ibrahimovic’s withdrawal, was headbutted by Bastia’s Brazilian striker Brandao, leaving him with a fractured nose and sparking a mass altercation.
PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi called for Brandao to be “severely punished,” while coach Laurent Blanc was left hoping that the injury to Ibrahimovic is nothing serious.
“At first I thought he had taken a knock, but no, it was as he was turning that he hurt himself in the side. It is a strange injury,” Blanc said of his star striker. “I am not a doctor. I don’t know if it is serious, but knowing Ibra, for him not to finish the match, the pain must have been quite intense.”
Bastia had never beaten the capital club away from home in the top flight, but they were optimistic of springing a surprise thanks to the influence of new coach Claude Makelele, the former PSG captain who gave up his role as assistant coach at Parc des Princes to take over the Corsican side this summer.
In their season opener, Makelele’s men recovered from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 at home to Olympique de Marseille, but rarely looked like doing anything similar in Paris as PSG’s expensive summer signing David Luiz was given a gentle stroll in the sunshine for his Ligue 1 debut.
“He didn’t have much to do, but we didn’t buy him so that he does a lot. We signed him because he is a good defender,” Blanc said of the Brazilian, who transferred from Chelsea in June for a reported 50 million euros (US$67.1 million), a world record fee for a defender.
Blanc took Gregory van der Wiel off at halftime after the Dutch rightback took a knock from Brandao’s knee and made way for Serge Aurier, who made his home debut after signing on loan from Toulouse.
Before that, Van der Wiel orchestrated the game’s opening goal, his cross from the right being met first time on the volley by an unmarked Lucas at the back post.
The reigning French champions struck again in the 57th minute when Uruguay star Cavani brilliantly controlled a quickly taken Marco Verratti free-kick inside the area before volleying past Bastia’s on-loan PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
“My team never played,” said Makelele, who added that he will take action if Brandao is found guilty of the post-match assault on Motta. “If my player started it, it is not worthy of a professional player and there will be punishment.”
Elsewhere on Saturday, Ola Toivonen, Mexer and Paul-Georges Ntep each scored twice as Stade Rennais hammered Evian Thonon Gaillard 6-2 in Brittany, while Wissam Ben Yedder netted the decisive counter as Toulouse inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Olympique Lyonnais.
In other Ligue 1 action, En Avant de Guingamp scored in stoppage time to win 1-0 against Racing Club de Lens, while a Yeni Ngbakoto penalty allowed promoted Metz to come from behind and draw 1-1 with Nantes as the clash between Lorient and OGC Nice ended goalless.
On Friday, LOSC Lille Metropole beat Stade Malherbe Caen Calvados 1-0 through a second-half penalty from Divock Origi.
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