CHICAGO: Blaise Matuidi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored first-half goals as Paris St Germain claimed the International Champions Cup with a 2-0 victory over Manchester United on Wednesday night.

The game between the two sides was shrouded in a bubbling controversy with Manchester United without Argentine winger Angel Di Maria, who is reportedly seeking a move away from the English Premier League side with PSG a likely destination and didn’t make the trip to the US for the four-match series.

And following the game, PSG manager Laurent Blanc suggested the saga may be nearing an end. “Wait and see,” he said. “Two big clubs are negotiating, the negotiations are difficult but I truly think we are close to a conclusion.”

The victory for the French team moved them to the top of the North America and Europe edition of the invitational 10-team competition along with New York Red Bulls on 10 points but took the tie-breaker on goal differential.

PSG beat SL Benfica and Fiorentina before losing to Chelsea on penalties with United, aiming to maintain their 100 percent record after registering wins over Club America, San Jose Earthquakes and European champions Barcelona, finishing third with nine points.

Neither PSG nor United can be caught by Barca or Chelsea (both on four points) who each have a game remaining in the Europe leg of the tournament against Italian side Fiorentina (two points).

Fiorentina host Barca in Florence on Sunday before wrapping up the series of summer exhibitions with a game against Chelsea in London three days later.

PSG created the early opportunities at Soldier Field, as Ibrahimovic zipped a great scoring chance over the crossbar within the first few minutes.

United however thought they had opened the scoring when midfielder Juan Mata had the ball in the back of the net but it was ruled out for offside.

PSG struck in the 25th minute, where Matuidi made a run into the box, fended off defender Phil Jones and sent a shot past goalkeeper David De Gea.

Ibrahimovic doubled the lead in the 34th minute when the Swedish forward took a cross from Maxwell and finished from close range.

PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was forced to make only three saves, the best of which came from midfielder Andreas Periera in the 76th minute.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2015

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