Cavani punishes Monaco as PSG retains Coupe de la Ligue title

Paris Saint-Germain's reign of terror isn't over yet.

The capital club captured a French record fourth consecutive Coupe de la Ligue title Saturday, crushing southern rival AS Monaco en route to a comprehensive 4-1 victory.

Edinson Cavani scored two goals in a superlative performance for PSG - his 39th and 40th tallies in all competitions, the largest haul of his career.

PSG's dominance is a familiar storyline in France, where it has firmly asserted itself as the team to beat. Saturday's triumph gives the Parisiens a 14th domestic trophy since the 2012/13 season. No other French club has more than one title over that stretch.

Tipped as the greatest challenger yet to the Qatari-owned outfit, Monaco couldn't keep up with the league's best. The principality must now look to Ligue 1 - which it leads by three points - to end a 14-year wait for major silverware.

Monaco's last taste of success came in the 2002-03 Coupe de la Ligue showpiece, in which it beat Sochaux 4-1.

The evening at Lyon's Parc Olympique Lyonnais began according to script. After just four minutes, Angel Di Maria teed up Julian Draxler for an easy tap-in, although replays suggest the German may have veered offside as the two broke free of defenders.

Monaco responded midway through the first half, producing a wonderful string of passes before Thomas Lemar's devastating strike levelled the match.

Related - Watch: Monaco's Lemar caps classy build-up with devastating strike

But Di Maria poked in a vital go-ahead goal to restore PSG's advantage, and Unai Emery's side never looked back.

Cavani gave Monaco absolutely no hope of wriggling back into the contest, scoring nine minutes after the interval and minutes before the final whistle to secure the hardware.

Related - Watch: Cavani's vigorous volley doubles PSG's lead vs. Monaco

Saturday's victory is a much-needed balm to a season that appeared to burn out following a spectacular collapse in the Champions League. Helpless as a 4-0 aggregate lead over Barcelona slipped away in the second leg, PSG and Emery drew damning criticism for their performance.

It has won all three fixtures since that harrowing experience at the Camp Nou, however, and this one should revive PSG's spirits ahead of a nail-biting title race with eight Ligue 1 matches remaining.