PARIS -- Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery does not believe his players deliberately took advantage of Bastia goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca's sense of sporting fair play during Saturday's 5-0 Ligue 1 thrashing.
The French champions won comfortably at Parc des Princes but Marco Verratti's first-half strike to make it 2-0 to Les Parisiens created controversy because Leca was checking on an injured Blaise Matuidi when his view of Verratti's shot was blocked by Julian Draxler.
"It is difficult to argue Marco should not hit it but the most important thing is whether he meant it or not," Emery said during his postmatch news conference. "There could have been a penalty on Blaise before that and the action continued afterwards and we spoke before the match about playing with intensity when on the ball. Because of that, Marco quickly asked for the ball on the edge of the box.
"Blaise was down but he is a teammate -- not an opponent -- and because of that, he continued to play. Apart from that, I do not think he saw that the goalkeeper was trying to help Blaise but only when he was back in the goal.
"Marco shot because he had the chance to, but I do not think that the spirit of fair play is lost among these players. He played the ball and that was clear when I saw on television that he was asking for the ball quickly."
Midfielder Matuidi expressed his sympathy for Leca but was convinced he should have received a penalty in the build-up to Verratti's strike anyway.
"I am sorry because Jean-Louis was playing fair," said the France international to BeIn Sports. "He came to check on me but I do not think Marco saw this, so he played on.
"Apart from that, I am sure I should have had a penalty anyway, so the goal to make it 2-0 was logical. We also had other chances to score."
Speaking in the mixed zone, midfielder Adrien Rabiot denied that he and his PSG teammates were deliberately unsporting in their actions.
"In my opinion, there was no lack of fair play," the France international told journalists. "The referee said play on and, from what I have seen, the goalkeeper was back in his goal, so...
"I do think some of the Bastia players stopped but there was no reason for them to do so. We were continuing to play normally and I think Marco was thinking the same thing."
Marquinhos got a slight touch on a Giovani Lo Celso effort late on and the Brazil international has been credited with the goal -- for now -- but hopes the Argentine will be awarded his first goal with the capital club.
"The team played very well today," Marquinhos told BeIn. "We are trying to show our true value.
"No goal for Giovani? If the goal is given to me, I will be disgusted! I wanted him to get his first goal. I spoke with the referee in the hope that it is awarded to him. He decided against it. It is not serious; this is only the start for him. He is a real talent and part of the club's future.
"Do we still believe in the title after the win? That is what we are trying to do. We played well today in front of our supporters."
