PSG ships seven past Monaco to seal title
Paris Saint-Germain cruised to a fifth Ligue 1 title in six years thanks to an astonishing 7-1 win over defending champion Monaco at the Parc des Princes on Monday (AEST).
Leonardo Jardim's young team caused an upset in winning the title last term, but PSG responded with significant investment in the form of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, and have been in charge for the majority of the campaign, ultimately regaining their crown in emphatic style with five games to spare.
A stunning six-minute spell in the first half put PSG in complete control as it scored three times through Giovani Lo Celso, Edinson Cavani and Angel Di Maria, before former got his second of the day and the team's 100th this season just before the half-hour mark.
Rony Lopes at least prevented PSG from claiming a clean sheet, though it was nothing more than a consolation and things only became more humiliating for Monaco, as Di Maria, a Radamel Falcao own goal and Julian Draxler's late strike in the second period capped a memorable night for the Parisians.
Yet, despite PSG easing to the Ligue 1 and Coupe de la Ligue titles, with the chance of Coupe de France glory still to come, such domestic success is unlikely to be enough to save Unai Emery's job, with the Basque coach's expiring contract not expected to be renewed.
Emery was hired for the European knockout expertise he exhibited with three successive UEFA Europa League triumphs at Sevilla, but consecutive last-16 eliminations in the UEFA Champions League are likely to cost him an extension, with Thomas Tuchel reportedly identified as the man to take them to the next level in Europe.
Although luck was on Monaco's side early on when Cavani missed a glorious opportunity, PSG was playing with a ruthlessness that was not going to see them slip up.
Cavani was soon involved for the better in the 14th minute, as he cleverly fed Dani Alves into the area and the Brazilian set up Lo Celso for an easy finish.
Its lead was then doubled soon after when Cavani rose to meet Yuri Berchiche's left-wing cross with a bullet header into the bottom-left corner.
Monaco had no answer to PSG's brilliance and Di Maria added a third after just 20 minutes, the winger racing on to Cavani's pass and outrageously scooping the ball over the helpless Danijel Subasic.
And things got even uglier in the 27th minute as Javier Pastore's cross with the outside of his right foot found Lo Celso, who nodded in his second.
Lopes tapped in Almamy Toure's right-wing cross at the back post to pull one back for Monaco late in the first half.
It never looked like being the start of an incredible comeback, even if PSG evidently eased off slightly after the restart.
PSG still had enough to restore their four-goal advantage, though, as Di Maria found the bottom-right corner after being fed into the box by Pastore in the 58th minute.
And to add insult to injury, Falcao put past his own goalkeeper 14 minutes from time when trying to get out of the way of a corner delivery, and Draxler rounded off a remarkable day for champion PSG by scoring a seventh, slotting into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box.
