Paris Saint Germain 4 - 1 Nice: Zlatan Ibrahimovic treble spurs Paris St Germain to comfortable win over Nice

Posted Sunday, April 03, 2016 by PA

Zlatan Ibrahimovic made it 30 Ligue 1 goals for the season by netting a hat-trick as champions Paris St Germain warmed up for their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Manchester City with a 4-1 home win over high-flying Nice.

Ibrahimovic's opening two superbly taken goals came either side of a Hatem Ben Arfa strike for Nice in a tight first half.

A David Luiz header three minutes after the break gave PSG a 3-1 advantage before Ibrahimovic added the finishing touch eight minutes from time.

Laurent Blanc's side would have been nervous coming into the game, having suffered their first home league defeat in two years last time out, but Ibrahimovic took it upon himself to calm any early jitters.

The Sweden striker had already flashed a shot narrowly wide just six minutes in before netting the opening goal on 15 minutes, instantly controlling a Luiz long ball before arrowing a right-footed shot into the roof of the net.

Nice, who still harbour ambitions of finishing second, were not fazed by conceding an early goal them and equalised just three minutes later through Ben Arfa.

Found on the right wing, the mercurial Frenchman cut inside before unleashing a 20-yard curling effort into the top-left corner via a deflection.

PSG kept pushing forward, though, and were back in front on 34 minutes through talisman Ibrahimovic.

Ligue 1's top scorer took responsibility from the set-piece after a foul on Lucas Moura, firing an unstoppable curling shot into the top-left corner from 18 yards.

The first goal of the second half was always going to be crucial, and it was PSG who got it just three minutes after the restart. This time it was Luiz who got his name on the scoresheet, rising highest at the near post to head home a Hervin Ongenda corner.

It was almost 4-1 on 50 minutes when Luiz again got on the end of a corner, this time flicking the ball onto Ibrahimovic but he was denied by a goal-line clearance by Vincent Koziello.

Nice almost profited from that let-off on 56 minutes but home goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was alert to keep out on-loan Monaco striker Valere Germain's right-footed cross-shot.

That save all but confirmed the PSG win, which Ibrahimovic rounded off in style on 82 minutes.

Played through by Adrien Rabiot, Ibrahimovic - face to face with Nice goalkeeper Yoann Cardinale - kept his composure to slot home left-footed for his 30th goal in 26 league games this term.

The result lifted PSG to 80 points and served as the perfect preparation for Wednesday's clash with Manchester City at the Parc des Princes.

Nice, meanwhile, remained third in Ligue 1 - five points behind Monaco - but they could drop down the table with closest challengers Lyon and Rennes still to play this weekend.