goals from zlatan ıbrahimovic, his 30th in the uefa champions league, and jérémy ménez earned a comfortable win for an accomplished psg.
zlatan ıbrahimovic scored paris saint-germain fc's opener in an accomplished victory at gnk dinamo zagreb, the ligue 1 side's first uefa champions league away win since 1997.
swedish international ıbrahimovic and jérémy ménez converted classy first-half goals and the ligue 1 leaders would have won by more had ıbrahimovic taken three excellent chances. carlo ancelotti's team moved onto six points and condemned dinamo to their ninth straight uefa champions league defeat; their third by the same 2-0 scoreline this season.
psg signalled their intent to take charge from the off. ınside the opening couple of minutes, the artful marco verratti's precise ball put ıbrahimovic clean through on dinamo goalkeeper ıvan kelava, who stood strong to deny the striker. dinamo had their moments as domagoj vida, initially adapting well to an unaccustomed defensive midfield role, headed over from a corner. sammir and duje cop also managed threatening efforts as ante cacic's spirited side broke forward on occasion.
dinamo had been stoutly defending the edge of their box, although psg's technical ability ensured a flow of opportunities; ıbrahimovic narrowly missed the frame of the goal after a brilliant verratti back-heel. psg were asserting themselves, finding extra space as dinamo became more ambitious, and in ménez they possess a player always capable of beating a man. on 33 minutes ıbrahimovic's pass invited ménez to take on ante puljic on the outside. ıbrahimovic was ideally positioned to meet ménez's cutback from the left and slide the ball in for his 30th uefa champions league goal.
ten minutes later ménez fired through kelava's legs for the second after once again bursting beyond puljic. javier pastore deserved credit for the precisely weighted pass to the french international as the visitors exploited the overlap to perfection.
psg controlled the remainder of the contest and midway through the second half pastore's determination set up a one-on-one with kelava for ıbrahimovic, only for the 31-year-old to lob wide. thiago silva hit the crossbar with a header from a corner inside the last 15 minutes and substitute guillaume hoarau sent another narrowly wide.
ancelotti's men successfully negotiated the first part of their dinamo double-header and can look forward with confidence to the return fixture at the parc des princes on 6 november.
