Ibrahimovic, the former Barcelona, AC Milan and Inter Milan striker, was in inspirational form as he opened the scoring on 29 minutes before two second-half goals put the result beyond doubt and gave the capital side the ideal preparation for the visit of Lyon on Sunday.
It was the sixth time this season that the Swedish 31-year-old captain has scored two goals or more in the same match.
Valenciennes were the dominant team from the kick-off and piled pressure on the PSG back four that resulted in Italian ‘keeper Salvatore Sirigu having to intervene on several occasions.
The capital side weathered the early storm and forced the opening goal on 29 minutes thanks to an inspirational pass from Javier Pastore that split the home defence wide open.
His angled pass down the right wing found Jeremy Menez whose shot was parried by Nicolas Penneteau, but it eventually fell to Ibrahimovic, who skillfully redirected the ball past the Valenciennes ‘keeper.
Three minutes after the break, Menez again was the provider as Pastore fed the Frenchman down the left flank and when Penneteau could only push the ball in front of goal, Ibrahimovic gratefully swept home the rebound.
The lively Menez was at the heart of the third PSG goal when the French international stole in behind the defence, before intelligently squaring the ball for the big Swede to easily tap home his third goal in 53 minutes.
As the home side pushed up in a bid to get back into the game, Ezequiel Lavezzi took advantage of that, going on a 40 yard run that had Valenciennes at sixes and sevens and he tucked the ball away for his second league goal of the season.
PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti said that his side had performed well as they recorded their third successive win inside a week.
“After two matches at home, it was a good test for us to show our mentality away from home at a difficult stadium,” said Ancelotti, who was under pressure at the beginning of the month after a poor run of form.
“Valenciennes have played well their last few matches at home but we showed good mentality and a good attitude. It was a good performance,” added the 53-year-old.
AFP/The Local/dl
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