PSG vs. Lyon: Winners and Losers from French Cup

Paris Saint-Germain, although slow to get out the blocks, comfortably beat Olympique Lyonnais 3-0 on Wednesday night at the Parc des Princes to reach the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France.

The first half finished goalless, with not much in the way of chances or talking points, but that all changed in the second through two close-range finishes from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and an Adrien Rabiot flick.

Lyon controlled a lot of the play in the first half but didn’t have the ability, presence or application to truly trouble Salvatore Sirigu’s goal.

The closest OL came was when Sirigu had to get his fingertips to Maxwel Cornet’s first-half shot from distance.

Laurent Blanc’s men stepped on the gas in the second half and made short work of Lyon once they got up to speed.

Here are the winners and losers from PSG’s 3-0 win over Lyon.

During his first two seasons with the club, whenever PSG found themselves in trouble, they could usually count on Ibrahimovic saving the day. On Wednesday night, just like he has done on a few occasions this season, the talismanic Swede was on form.

Two second-half goals from their all-time top goalscorer quickly put PSG in control of the game and helped them qualify for the quarter-finals.

The first needed some improvisation, turning in the cross from Lucas Moura with his chest, the second a simple side-foot finish from Serie Aurier's low cross.

As soon as the job was done, Blanc brought Zlatan off and the Parc des Princes crowd saluted their star and hero.

It quickly became clear on Wednesday that the Brazilian winger was in the mood to impress the crowd and terrorise the Lyon defence.

On both the left and the right, the 23-year-old was actively looking to commit defenders, make them stretch for the ball, before skipping past them in almost slow motion.

Samuel Umtiti picked up a yellow card for his troubles and a few Lyon players went close. Not only did Lucas set up Ibrahimovic for the opening goal, but it was his ball that released Aurier down the right for the second.

He should have made it 4-0 late on, but his volley came bouncing back off the near post.

While at PSG, Christophe Jallet was never a fan favourite and was quite often the butt of a lot of jokes and quickly identified as not being good enough for the club.

Despite his improved showings for Lyon and return to the national team, his performance against his old club showed exactly why he was let go two seasons ago.

Lucas had him in his pocket for most of the game and caught him sleeping for the opening goal. Two of the goals came from crosses down PSG’s left and did nothing to argue the point that Jallet is not a good defensive right-back.

It may work against lower-league opponents, but against the better teams, Jallet’s performances could be a reason of worry for Didier Deschamps this summer.

Due to his non-nonsense, simplistic style, you can sometimes forget that Maxwell is Brazilian. In the 3-0 win over Lyon on Wedneday, he showed glimpses of the samba style.

In the first half, he left Christophe Jallet for dead with a swift Cruyff turn on Lyon's byline—the Parc des Princes crowd purring with appreciation at the show of skill.

In the second half, he showed his decisive side. Forever looking to burst forward down the left, it was his initial run that set up PSG's second, and then, although in a clear offside position, his cross picked out Rabiot for the third.

Another display from the 34-year-old that shows exactly why he's still the first choice and why Layvin Kurzawa is still the willing understudy.