Story highlights
Paris Saint Germain win 4-0 at Toulouse in French Ligue 1
New signing David Beckham not in squad for away trip
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores third for league leaders
Cagliari win at AS Roma in Serie A
David Beckham was not ready to make his eagerly awaited debut but his new Paris Saint Germain teammates marked his arrival at the club with a 4-0 win at Toulouse Friday.
The comfortable victory leaves the Parisian giants three points clear of Lyon at the top ahead of the other weekend fixtures in France.
Beckham signed for the Qatari-owned club Thursday to much fanfare, but having not played a competitive match since the end of the Major League Soccer season two months ago needs time to acquire full fitness.
While 100 euro replica shirts bearing the name of the 37-year-old football icon were selling briskly in the French capital, his teammates traveled nearly 600 kilometers south for a key match as they bid to back up their big spending with the domestic crown.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men were ahead after just four minutes as Javier Pastore scored. The Argentina star had been on target in PSG’s 3-1 French Cup win over the same opponents last week and the result never looked being any different despite Toulouse’s home advantage.
Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovic doubled the advantage before halftime with his league leading 20th of the season.
The home side’s Cheikh M’Bengue was sent off for a second yellow card just before the break and further strikes from Mamadou Sakhou and Gregory van der Weil put the three points beyond doubt for the table toppers.
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PSG’s next league fixture sees them home to Bastia in a week’s time when Beckham could conceivably make his first appearance in their colors.
If PSG eventually win the French title with the former England captain’s help it would mean he had won championships in four separate countries.
He has achieved the feat with Manchester United in England, Real Madrid in Spain and LA Galaxy, where he spent five years, in the United States.
His free agent move grabbed the headlines on the final day of the January transfer window, signing an initial five-month contract with PSG.
Read: Beckham arrives in the City of Light
Beckham, who has promised to donate his salary to local children’s charities, revealed he had offers from several other clubs, including some in the English Premier League.
His arrival has been generally well received in France, but leading sports newspaper L’Equipe was wary of the real motives.
“With the signature of the ‘Spice Boy’ David Beckham yesterday, PSG pulled off a sensational publicity stunt. The sporting interest of the move is less clear,” it said.
But Le Monde trumpeted: “The former captain of the England team has an extraordinary understanding of space and distribution in the game, a brilliant technique and excels in the art of the long cross.”
In other European football action Friday, Roma saw their hopes of European qualification dented with a 4-2 home loss to Cagliari, while Werder Bremen beat Hannover 2-0 in a mid-table clash in Germany.