Edinson Cavani’s Struggles Highlight PSG’s Need for a Centre-Forward

It was far from a classic, but Paris Saint-Germain kicked off their first home match of the 2016/17 Ligue 1 campaign with a 3-0 victory over FC Metz on Sunday night.

After a frustrating opening 45 minutes in which the Parisians dominated, Lucas Moura fired the hosts ahead in the second half. Layvin Kurzawa headed in the second, and Simon Falette deflected Marco Verratti’s shot into his own net late in injury time.

Unai Emery told the club’s official website after the game:

I’m very happy with my team and the 3-0 score-line. We are very happy to start with a win in our first home outing of the season. We created a lot of chances, opened the scoring, but then the game got away from us a little. Kevin Trapp made two very good saves before we got control back again and scored two more goals. It’s good for the confidence. It’s a positive night.

Emery not worried by goal-shy Cavani https://t.co/i4MP3Pfbcw pic.twitter.com/Y9z2kl6vC9

— Goal UK (@GoalUK) August 21, 2016

The Spanish boss will be happy to get the first victory at the Parc des Princes under his belt, but he knows one thing they will have to improve is the finishing.

As he commented, they did orchestrate a number of opportunities—according to WhoScored, they had 29 shots, with 22 of them from open play but just eight on target.

Seven of those shots were taken by returning forward Edinson Cavani. Although it was just his first league game of the season, his performance continued to raise doubts over whether he is the right man to lead this club forward.

In the 4-1 win over Lyon in the Trophee des Champions, PSG’s movement in the final third was incredible—interchanging, intelligent and lethal.

Against Bastia, it had looked a little flat, with the team not playing with that same decisiveness. But as discussed in this column, the home side defended their penalty box very well, making it difficult to find space.

Cavani’s return was going to be interesting, seeing how he was included in the attack and how having a real centre-forward changed the dynamic.

When you spend time concentrating on what the No. 9 brings to the attack, it’s clear straight away that his movement is world class.

As soon as players like Angel Di Maria or Javier Pastore get the ball and lift their head, he’s off on a run, looking to create separation between him and the defenders and knowing that his team-mates have the ability to find him regardless of where he is.

Against Metz, after 15 minutes, Cavani (yellow) was showing that he was ready for the new season. Pastore (blue) picked the ball up deep in his own midfield. As soon as the Argentinian collected the ball, Cavani was on his way, running off the shoulder of the last defender.

The pass …

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