Cavani understood it had to be done.
Édinson Cavani today became Paris Saint-Germain’s all time leading goalscorer as he tapped in his 157th for the club. A precise cut-back from Adrien Rabiot put the ball on a plate for the Uruguayan to bury with his left foot.
CA-VA-NI 🙌
Edinson Cavani is now the leading goalscorer in PSG's history!
157 goals and counting 🔥
And yes, the ref did congratulate him before booking the striker 😂 pic.twitter.com/opMILGUeM6
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 27, 2018
This happened only 10 days after the latest episode of Neymar and Édinson Cavani’s complex relationship unfolded. In a midweek game against Dijon, fans booed Neymar as he wouldn’t allow Cavani to take a penalty that would have given him the chance to break the record, despite the fact PSG were already 7-0 up.
Cavani was of course thrilled to have overtaken Zlatan Ibrahimović in the PSG record books, so no-one can blame him for taking his shirt off and hurling it into the crowd in celebration.
The referee is obliged to brandish a yellow card for the celebration, but there was a mutual understanding between referee and Cavani of each other’s duties.
The striker has had his critics in the past, too. Not only because he has played almost his entire career in Italy and France, two leagues deemed easier than the Premier League and LaLiga, but because of his tendency to miss chances in televised Champions League games. ‘Great movement, poor finishing’ was the general consensus.
Holding this record should silence most of them now.
