French champions Paris Saint-Germain finished last year with a victory as a second-half goal from Yohan Cabaye handed them a narrow 1-0 victory over Serie A side Inter in Morocco on Tuesday.
In a prestige friendly, held in the north African country that refused to host the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, PSG coach Laurent Blanc made numerous changes at the Grand Stade in front of about 30,000 supporters.
Former Newcastle United favorite Cabaye grabbed the only goal of the match on 57 minutes when he converted following sustained pressure from the capital club.
Photo: AFP
Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani was a notable absentee along with Argentine Ezequiel Lavezzi, while talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic was given a chance to prove his return to fitness and lasted the full 90 minutes.
“It was a good match,” Ibrahimovic said.
“We’ve had a super three days here with very intensive training sessions. Winning is good for the confidence, but the most important thing is to work well to prepare the second part of the season,” he added.
Meanwhile, Blanc said he would be awaiting “some explications” from both Cavani and Lavezzi, who missed the training camp in Morocco.
“They’ll arrive on [Jan.] 2 in the morning in Paris,” said Blanc, who refused to be drawn on a possible transfer of either of the two players when the window opens on Saturday.
“We can’t say that today. We’re going to wait until they arrive,” he said. “We’ll expect some explanations, and then we’ll make sporting decisions as a club.”
Meanwhile, Inter coach Roberto Mancini said that the Italian club had not been in contact with Lavezzi.
“Lavezzi is a great player, but he’s a PSG player. There is no contact and it’s not for me to contact him,” Mancini said.
PSG are currently third in Ligue 1, but only three points behind leaders and archrivals Olympique de Marseille, while they also have a key Champions League last-16 tie against Chelsea next month. Their next competitive match is against 2011-2012 Ligue 1 champions Montpellier Herault in the Coupe de France on Monday.
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