Dominant PSG stroll to victory in Zagreb
Reuters - Wednesday 24 October 2012, 22:06
Paris Saint-Germain stayed on course to reach the Champions League last 16 after first-half goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jeremy Menez secured a 2-0 win at Croatian title-holders Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday.
PSG dominated from start to finish and should have won by a bigger margin, but for some wasteful finishing by Ibrahimovic who missed two great chances before he broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute with a crisp shot into the far corner.
Midfielder Menez broke down the left and weaved his way past two defenders before squaring the ball back into the heart of the penalty box for the Swedish striker to slide in and beat goalkeeper Ivan Kelava.
Menez made it 2-0 shortly before half-time, taking a Javier Pastore pass into his stride before he rifled a low drive between Kelava's legs on a grim evening for Dinamo.
Watched by only 7,000 home fans in their Maksimir stadium, Dinamo stayed on the back foot after the interval and had the woodwork as well as last-gasp defending to thank for not conceding more goals.
Their Brazilian-born midfielder Sammir, who made his debut for Croatia in Euro 2012 qualifying, showed flashes of brilliance but left to his own devices, he could not stop Dinamo from suffering their ninth successive defeat in Europe's premier club competition.