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Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Cavani on target as PSG tame Rennes

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs Stade Rennes - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - January 27, 2019 Paris St Germain's Edinson Cavani celebrates scoring their fourth goal REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

PARIS (Reuters) - Edinson Cavani struck twice as Paris St Germain continued their march towards the Ligue 1 title with a 4-1 home thrashing of Stade Rennais on Sunday.

In the absence of the injured Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria also found the back of the net after Mbaye Niang had cancelled out Cavani's early opener.

Leaders PSG now have 56 points from 20 games and lead second-placed Lille, who beat Olympique de Marseille 2-1 away on Friday and have played two more games, by 13 points.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs Stade Rennes - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - January 27, 2019 Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe scores their third goal REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Olympique Lyonnais, who are on 40 points, consolidated third place when Jason Denayer earned them a 1-0 win at strugglers Amiens earlier on Sunday.

At the Parc des Princes, Rennes were a match for PSG for 45 minutes but they cracked under the home side's relentless pressure after the break.

Cavani headed home from close range in the seventh minute to give Thomas Tuchel's side a perfect start, only for Niang to equalise in the 28th with a clever backheel.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs Stade Rennes - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - January 27, 2019 Paris St Germain's Edinson Cavani celebrates scoring their first goal with Angel Di Maria REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Di Maria, however, restored the advantage on the hour by flicking the ball past Tomas Koubek after collecting Thiago Silva's long pass.

Ligue 1 top scorer Mbappe netted his 18th goal of the season six minutes later with a strike from inside the box.

Cavani made it 4-1 in the 71st minute when he latched on to a Mbappe cross.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs Stade Rennes - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - January 27, 2019 Stade Rennes' Benjamin Andre in action with Paris St Germain's Marquinhos REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Elsewhere, strugglers Toulouse and Angers drew 0-0.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Clare Fallon)

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs Stade Rennes - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - January 27, 2019 Paris St Germain's Edinson Cavani celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Julian Draxler REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs Stade Rennes - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - January 27, 2019 Paris St Germain's Edinson Cavani celebrates scoring their fourth goal with Kylian Mbappe and Julian Draxler REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
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