Paris Saint-Germain began the second half of the Ligue 1 season in comfortable fashion on Friday, with goals from Thiago Motta and Maxwell seeing Laurent Blanc’s champions to a 2-0 win over SC Bastia.
PSG went into the winter recess boasting a yawning 19 points cushion — a new record points tally up to Christmas in France.
Two first-half goals moved them 22 points clear of AS Monaco and maintained their unbeaten record in all domestic competitions since March last year.
“We are the only team which also thinks a little bit about the future,” Blanc said as he looked ahead to the rest of the season, which also includes a UEFA Champions League last-16 clash against Chelsea.
“There are heavy legs in January, but we have big goals for February, March, April and May, I hope. You have to work hard in January, the weather conditions may not be great. This is one reason why the game tonight gave me much pleasure,” he added.
Bastia turned up sitting just three points clear of the relegation zone, but having only lost just one of their past six games.
Blanc elected to start Brazilian winger Lucas Moura instead of Edinson Cavani, and put Kevin Trapp in goal.
For Bastia, Brazilian Brandao was making his return to the Parc des Princes, where, in 2014, he headbutted Motta — for which he picked up a six-month ban.
The visitors began brightly, but as the half-hour approached, PSG’s Angel di Maria sent in a corner from the right, with Bastia’s bumbling defense allowing Thiago Silva’s header to be nudged over the line by Motta.
Argentina star Di Maria was at the heart of the hosts’ second goal 10 minutes later, helping to set up defender Maxwell to fire an angled shot into the Bastia netting.
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