Paris Saint-Germain beat Fiorentina 4-2 at the Red Bull Arena in an international friendly. Both teams faced off in the International Champions Cup tournament, being hosted in North America.
Blaise Matuidi and Jean-Kevin Augustin gave PSG the 2-0 lead by half time. Joaquin quickly cut into PSG’s lead on the return from the dressing room, but only for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to make it 3-1 later and reinstate PSG’s two-goal lead. Youngster Augustin would then grab his brace to further widen PSG’s lead. Giuseppe Rossi finally concluded the six-goal affair, scoring from the penalty spot.
Mario Gomez got the hostilities underway in the very first minute, bringing down a ball over the top of the defence but dispossessed just before he could pull the trigger. PSG soon regained their composure, keeping possession but ultimately failing to test the Fiorentina back-line much.
Matias Vecino’s 10th minute free-kick then sent Laurent Blanc’s men in panic mode, as his effort crashed against the woodwork.
With little danger coming from PSG, Fiorentina remained the more dangerous side in the opening minutes. In fact, Ciprian Tatarusanu’s first intervention only came in the 20th minute, darting off his line to beat the onrushing Ibrahimovic to a through ball. The Swede once again threatened minutes later, deviating Gregory van der Wiel’s cross that the Viola goalkeeper just tipped away.
With PSG multiplying their chances on goal, Fiorentina dropped deeper and were mostly relegated to sparse counter-attacks.
The inevitable happened, as the Viola defence finally cracked under the pressure on 35 minutes. Van der Wiel fizzing in a low cross that Matuidi turned in from close range. The onslaught continued, with PSG playing more confidently, as Matuidi found Augustin in the area. The young PSG forward didn’t hesitate, cooly slotting on 41 minutes past Tatarusanu to seal a 2-0 half time lead for the French side.
The second half resumed in very much the same way the first had ended. However it was substitute Joaquin who sounded the charge for Fiorentina. The Viola man picked the ball from outside the area, and curled it into the top-corner to cut into PSG’s lead on the hour mark.
PSG soon recovered their two-goal lead on 69 minutes however, with Ibrahimovic darting in front of his man to tap in from close range. Five minutes later, Augustin grabbed his brace to make it 4-1, as the Viola keeper allowed the Frenchman’s powerful shot to slip through his grasp.
Rossi would salvage another goal to save Fiorentina’s blushes, converting from the spot on 78 minutes, as PSG went on 4-2 victors.
