French giants Paris Saint-Germain, inspired by four stunning Zlatan Ibrahimovic goals, turned on the style Sunday to beat Troyes 9-0 and clinch a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 crown in record time.
Just four days after advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals, PSG wrapped up the club’s sixth French title with eight games to spare by beating a Troyes side destined for an immediate return to the second tier.
Laurent Blanc’s men obliterated the French record for the quickest league victory, currently held by Lyon which won the 2007 title under Gerard Houllier with five games to go.
Unlike last season when Paris waited until late March to take over top spot, the capital club have set the pace uninterrupted since beating Gazelec Ajaccio 2-0 in its second game of the campaign.
Three goals in six early first-half minutes settled PSG’s nerves at Troyes’ sun-kissed Stade de l’Aube.
First up was Edinson Cavani , the Uruguyan capitalising on a poor back pass to sneak in to beat goalkeeper Matthieu Dreyer on the second attempt.
Pastore made it 2-0 shortly after, a David Luiz interception played quickly to Ibrahimovic, whose sublime backheel found the Argentinian who toe-poked a looped finish past a despairing Dreyer.
No sooner had the game been restarted than Adrien Rabiot was the welcome recipient for PSG’s third after following up on a Cavani shot that rebounded off Dreyer.
It was then time for Ibrahimovic to take centre stage in 10 magical minutes.
The towering Swede made it 4-0 just seconds into the second-half after Cavani intercepted another poor clearance. “Ibra” was gifted too much space on the edge of the box and made no mistake as he drilled the ball low into the left-hand corner.
Ibrahimovic’s second was a gem, a first-time mid-air volley of an inch-perfect Angel di Maria cross as PSG swamped Troyes.
His third — and 100th in Ligue 1 action — was equally sublime, the 34-year-old Swede meeting a Layvin Kurzawa cross at full speed and unleashing a blinding right-footed shot that swerved into the far corner of the net.
Matthieu Saunier compounded Troyes’ woes with an own goal, while Lossemy Karaboue saw red for hauling Cavani down in the box with 16 minutes to play.
Dreyer did well to save Cavani’s penalty, but the striker tapped in at the second bite.
It was left to Ibrahimovic to wrap up the 9-0 rout, the striker showing great strength to ride a tackle and unleash an unstoppable shot after a Pastore through-ball.
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