Neymar stars as PSG beats Reims to reach League Cup final

PSG’s Neymar celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the French League One soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain at the Louis II stadium in Monaco, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

PARIS — Neymar was involved in all three goals as Paris Saint-Germain cruised past Reims 3-0 on Wednesday to set up a League Cup final against Lyon.

The home side had a player sent off with about 20 minutes left but PSG was already 2-0 up in the semifinal by then.

Brazil center half Marquinhos rose well near the back post to head in Neymar’s floating corner from the right in the ninth minute.

For the next goal, Neymar whipped in a free kick from the left which eluded the head of Marquinhos before being turned into the net by defender Ghislain Konan for an own goal in the 31st.

Moments after midfielder Marshall Munetsi was shown the red card for clattering into Marco Verratti from behind, PSG added a third goal in the 77th.

Neymar clipped a corner from the right perfectly into the path of midfielder Leandro Paredes and his firm volley from the edge of the penalty area was saved by goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic. But the ball hit the post and rolled to 17-year-old defender Tanguy Kouassi for a tap-in.

Tempers frayed near the end as Rajkovic was booked for shoving forward Kylian Mbappé in the back and knocking him over. But seconds before, Mbappé had needlessly kicked the ball away when Rajkovic was preparing to take a kick.

Mbappé received a yellow card in the last minute for scooping the ball into the net with his hand as he fell over when challenging for it with Reims players. He was perhaps lucky to escape a caution for seemingly diving when trying to win a penalty in the first half.

The final will be held on April 4.

In the other semifinal, Lyon beat visiting Lille on Tuesday in a penalty shootout after the match finished 2-2.