Edinson Cavani bags brace as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bordeaux

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Paris Saint-Germain avoided suffering back-to-back league defeats for the first time since 2011 as they beat Bordeaux 2-0 at the Parc des Princes.

Edinson Cavani's first-half brace ensured last week's 2-0 defeat in Toulouse was just a temporary blip for Unai Emery's men as they moved level on points in Ligue 1 with second-placed Monaco.

For Bordeaux, it was a third league defeat of the season.

The evening could not have started better for the hosts when, with just three minutes on the clock, Cavani netted his 10th goal of the season in all competitions.

Angel di Maria was given the freedom of the left wing and his delivery was neatly glanced beyond Cedric Carrasso by the Uruguay international.

PSG continued to dominate as Di Maria came within a whisker of converting Lucas Moura's delivery before Diego Rolan's poor pass almost gifted compatriot Cavani his second of the game.

Seemingly hungover from their 135th year celebrations, Les Girondins were struggling to contain their superior opponents.

Carrasso was called into action in the 20th minute as Thomas Meunier's volley through a sea of bodies almost crept in, but for a smart save from the Bordeaux stopper.

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Then, Nicolas Pallois was lucky not to be shown a straight red for a deliberate handball inside the area before PSG doubled their lead in superb fashion.

Lucas' cheeky pass released Layvin Kurzawa who, in turn, rolled the ball into Cavani's path for the Uruguayan to cleverly back-heel the ball beyond Carrasso, increasing the hosts' advantage.

The visitors had a rare chance just before the break but PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola did well to deny Malcom after a deflected cross fell kindly for the Brazilian.

Bordeaux defender Pallois' nervy evening continued after the restart as he almost gifted PSG a third by handing Lucas possession with a poor back pass but Carrasso came to his defender's rescue, denying the Brazilian with a decent stop.

The visitors did manage to get the ball beyond Areola in the PSG goal but the linesman's flag rightly went up to deny Jeremy Menez and Bordeaux a way back into the game.

That did little to change the flow of the game as Cavani wasted a decent opportunity to seal his hat-trick.

Some impressive Lucas dribbling carved open the visitors' defence but, when the ball fell Cavani's way, he stuttered which allowed Carrasso to parry his effort.

Di Maria had a volley ruled out for offside as the final 10 minutes approached before Emery threw on local boy Hatem Ben Arfa, much to the delight of the Parisian public.

Gaetan Laborde and Adam Ounas almost combined to make it a nervy finish for the champions late on but an alert Areola preserved their clean sheet and guaranteed the points.