PSG punish Bastia to retain League Cup

Holders Paris Saint-Germain lifted the first silverware of the French season with a comprehensive 4-0 win over 10-men Bastia in the League Cup final on Saturday.

In a repeat of the 1995 final, a first half brace by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, completed by Edinson Cavani’s second half double, kept Ligue 1 leaders PSG in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple.

Laurent Blanc’s side face Barcelona in the Champions League quarter final first leg on Wednesday and tackle Auxerre next month in the French Cup final.

It took Blanc’s men just 21 minutes to find the back of the net after Bastia defender Sebastien Squillaci was harshly sent off for taking Ezequiel Lavezzi down inside the box, with Ibrahimovic converting from the spot.

The Swedish forward scored his tenth goal in just five games a few minutes before half-time, controlling Mathieu Peybernes’ poor headed clearance before lashing a shot inside the bottom corner.

Cavani added a third with a superb header, finding himself at the end of Serge Aurier’s cross.

he Uruguay striker grabbed his 20th goal of the season and put the final nail in the Corsican side’s coffin in injury time thanks to a brilliantly-timed pass by Ibrahimovic that sent him through on goal.

Against a team currently sitting in 14th, five points above the relegation zone, PSG secured their fifth win in the competition after lifting the trophy in 1995, 1998, 2008 and 2014.

With no time for celebrations, PSG will now turn to Barcelona, whom they host at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

They can then focus on national competition as they top Ligue 1 with seven matches to play and face Auxerre in the final of the French Cup on May 30.