Ibrahimovic Hat-trick Puts PSG Top

Source: thewillnigeria.com

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat-trick as Paris St-Germain beat Lorient to go top of Ligue 1.

The Swede scored an early penalty after being fouled by goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte.

PSG dominated and yet missed a host of chances before Jordan Ayew equalised from 20 yards and then had a shot blocked off the line moments later.

But Ibrahimovic scored a second penalty after a foul on Javier Pastore and in injury time swept home his third.

The talismanic striker has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons recently. He was sent off last week against Chelsea in the Champions League, earning himself a one-game ban for their first leg against Barcelona.

And last weekend he was filmed screaming in a foul-mouthed rant where he claimed France “does not deserve” PSG after they lost to Bordeaux. He has a French league hearing on 9 April over that incident.

But it was his night at the Parc des Prince as PSG overtook Lyon, who could go back to the summit on Saturday when they face Nice (15:00 GMT).

With four minutes he opened the scoring with a penalty after he was flattened by keeper Lecomte, who was booked for the challenge.

Ibrahimovic seemed to be injured moments after the goal and needed treatment on the sideline but was fit to continue.

PSG dominated and Ezequiel Lavezzi and Ibrahimovic wasted chances before the controversial forward under-hit a pass to Pastore following a brilliant team move, when the Argentine would have been in on goal.

Moments later he was made to pay when Ayew fired home a crisp effort from outside the box from Benjamin Jeannot's layoff.

The Ghanaian could have made it a quick-fire brace but Marco Verratti headed his effort off the line.

It looked like it might not be PSG's day when Pastore and Cavani missed opportunities before an Ibrahimovic backheel was saved.

But they kept going forward and their second breakthrough came with eight minutes left as Lamine Kone lost control of the the ball in the box and fouled Pastore in a bid to win it back. Ibrahimovic made no mistake from the spot.

And right at the end of the game Verratti found him in space to complete his hat-trick with his 17th league goal of the season.

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