Cavani helps Paris St Germain beat Chelsea

Paris St Germain continued their impressive run this season, beating  Chelsea 2-1 in the first leg of their Round of 16 Champions League encounter at Parc des Princes in Paris on Tuesday night.

Edinson Cavani (centre) celebrates after scoring a goal against Chelsea. Reuters / Gonzalo Fuentes

Goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani gave the Ligue 1 team a slight edge over the London club as they face off next week for the decisive tie.

After missing couple of chances, Ibrahimovic finally gave PSG the lead in the 39th minute from a free kick.

The Swedish striker’s shot deflected off John Obi Mikel’s foot which wrong-footed Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois giving the Paris side the lead. This was Ibrahimovic’s third Champions League goal of the season.

PSG’s lead though was short-lived as Mikel made amends for his error by scoring his first goal in 14 months just before the half-time whistle.

PSG dominated the second half but had nothing to show in terms of results till the 78th minute when Cavani scored the winner.

The Uruguayan striker has been woefully out of form this season and is not a regular starter for the club. However, against Chelsea, he played the role of a super-substitute to perfection.

Just four minutes after replacing Lucas, Cavani slotted the ball into the net after meeting Angel Di Maria’s pass to score just his second goal of the season.

PSG's win means they have still lost just once in 40 games this season, while it was a first defeat for Chelsea since Guus Hiddink replaced the sacked Jose Mourinho in December.

PSG coach Laurent Blanc said that he was happy for Cavani as he had gone through a very difficult time.

“He's a boy who scores goals – we doubt his goal-scoring talents often and then he pops up and shows he can put the ball in the net at any time I hope the fact he got the goal will be good for him and the team,” Blanc said.

Hiddink though disappointed insisted that Chelsea were still in the race.

“Of course a defeat is never a good or nice feeling but you have to consider it's a two-leg game and scoring away is always important. I am never happy with a loss but it's not a dramatic loss,” he said.

In the other last-16 encounter, Benfica edged out Zenit St Petersburg 1-0. Jonas scored the only goal of the match after heading home a Gaitan free-kick in the first minute of stoppage time.