ATLANTA, Georgia (Reuters) -Joao Neves scored twice as Paris St Germain swept aside Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami 4-0 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday to secure their place in the Club World Cup quarter-finals with ruthless efficiency.
The French side asserted their dominance within six minutes, with Neves moving unmarked to the far post to power home a precise header from a free kick.
Neves doubled their lead in the 39th minute after a flowing move as Bradley Barcola found Fabian Ruiz, whose exquisite cross was clinically converted by the Portuguese.
Any hopes of a Miami comeback were extinguished in the first half as Messi and company barely got a look in, and their misery deepened further when Tomas Aviles turned Desire Doue’s cross into his own net.
Achraf Hakimi added the fourth, pouncing after his initial shot struck the crossbar, on the stroke of halftime.
“It was an almost perfect match, we created a lot of chances, and I’m happy yet I think we still need to improve, that’s football,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said.
Messi became more involved after the break and his header was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma following a quick counter-attack, while he struck the wall with a late free kick that brought the crowd to their feet in anticipation of a consolation goal that never materialised.
“I’m very proud of my players. Today you could see the difference in class, but football has given us the chance to compete. This is probably the best team in the world with a great coach, but we took them on,” Miami coach Javier Mascherano said.
The Champions League winners march on to the quarter-finals, where they will face the winners of the clash between Flamengo and Bayern Munich.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico CityEditing by Toby Davis)
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