Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain vs Dijon - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 26, 2019 Paris St Germain's Maxim Choupo-Moting shoots at goal REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
PARIS (Reuters) - Holders Paris St Germain eased into the French Cup semi-finals after two goals from Angel Di Maria and another by Thomas Meunier gave them a 3-0 home win over Dijon in an action-packed last-eight clash on Tuesday.
PSG were without their potent three-pronged attack of Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, but the league leaders' makeshift side made light work of the contest and could have won by a much bigger margin.
Dijon's Icelandic keeper Runar Runarsson made a string of superb saves in the first half but could do nothing about Di Maria's brace, with both goals created in sublime fashion by German playmaker Julian Draxler.
Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain vs Dijon - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 26, 2019 Dijon's Julio Tavares in action with Paris St Germain's Leandro Paredes REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Di Maria opened the scoring in the eighth minute with a brilliant lob from the edge of the penalty area after a defence-splitting pass by Draxler, who also set up the second with what was almost a carbon copy of his earlier assist.
Di Maria showed a different kind of composure this time, with his mistimed pass to Eric Choupo-Moting rebounding kindly to the Argentina winger who swept the ball home past the stranded Runarsson.
Dijon defender Fouad Chafik denied Di Maria a first-half hat-trick as he cleared the livewire forward's shot off the line while Julio Tavares hit the post at the other end after a rare Dijon break.
Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain vs Dijon - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 26, 2019 Paris St Germain's Christopher Nkunku in action with Dijon's Nayef Aguerd REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
The busy Runarsson twice kept out superb Draxler chances before Choupo-Moting, who missed three good opportunities, set up Meunier with some fine footwork and the Belgium midfielder responded with a clever 76th-minute finish to put the icing on the cake.
In the other quarter-finals, Rennes are at home to second division Orleans and Olympique Lyonnais take on Caen on Wednesday, while fourth division Vitre are at home to Nantes on March 6.
Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain vs Dijon - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 26, 2019 Dijon's Nayef Aguerd and Romain Amalfitano in action with Paris St Germain's Julian Draxler REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Toby Davis)
Soccer Football - Coupe de France - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain vs Dijon - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 26, 2019 Paris St Germain players celebrate after the match REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesSoccer Football - Coupe de France - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain vs Dijon - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 26, 2019 Paris St Germain's Maxim Choupo-Moting in action with Dijon's Senou Coulibaly REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesSoccer Football - Coupe de France - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain vs Dijon - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 26, 2019 Paris St Germain's Moussa Diaby in action with Dijon's Wesley Lautoa REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesSoccer Football - Coupe de France - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain vs Dijon - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 26, 2019 Paris St Germain's Maxim Choupo-Moting celebrates their third goal scored by Thomas Meunier REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesSoccer Football - Coupe de France - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain vs Dijon - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - February 26, 2019 Paris St Germain's Marco Verratti in action with Dijon's Romain Amalfitano REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
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