Moise Kean scored the only goal as Paris Saint-Germain beat Caen 1-0 in their Coupe de France round-of-64 clash at Stade Michel d'Ornano on Wednesday. 

The holders – who have won the competition a record 13 times – were poor in the first half and went in at the break having had just one shot on target. 

Mauricio Pochettino's side came out for the second period with renewed purpose, though, and broke the deadlock soon after thanks to on-loan Everton striker Kean's 12th goal of the season in all competitions. 

Caleb Sery squandered a golden opportunity to equalise late on, but PSG ultimately held firm to extend their unbeaten run against Caen to 18 matches with the minimum of fuss.

The hosts twice went close inside the opening five minutes, Sergio Rico pawing over Aliou Traore's fierce strike from distance and Hugo Vandermersch missing the target with a free header inside the six-yard box.

Julian Draxler headed wide from Neymar's lofted ball over the top in the 42nd minute, but PSG – sorely lacking the pace of Kylian Mbappe in the first half – were unable to find an opener before the interval.

Pochettino's men were a lot sharper after the restart and went ahead after 49 minutes, Kean diverting Neymar's left-wing cross past Sullivan Pean.

Pean superbly denied Kean a second three minutes later, getting a strong hand to the Italian's powerful drive after he had been played in by Leandro Paredes.

PSG handed a debut to highly rated former Barcelona youngster Xavi Simon with 12 minutes remaining, while the Ligue 1 champions were lucky not to concede in the closing stages as Sery inexplicably fired wide from 10 yards.

Angel Di Maria will miss the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.

The Argentina international sustained a thigh injury in PSG's 2-0 Ligue 1 win over Marseille on Sunday.

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino says the 32-year-old will be unavailable for the match at Camp Nou on February 16, as well as the Coupe de France game at Caen on Wednesday and Saturday's league clash at home to Nice.

"As the club said, there'll be further communication within the week concerning Angel but his participation in the match against Barcelona is compromised," Pochettino said on Tuesday of Di Maria.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player has been directly involved in 14 goals in all competitions this season, behind only Neymar (16) and Kylian Mbappe (27) within the PSG ranks.

"His absence isn't a reason to change our ideas," Pochettino said. "We'll find the best available solutions. Angel has played a lot and he's an important player for us. But there are other players who can play and enable us to win matches."

Pochettino plans to resist the temptation to rest too many of his star names for the cup match at Stade Michel-d'Ornano despite the importance of the Barca tie.

PSG will certainly be without Marco Verratti (hip), Colin Dagba (thigh), Juan Bernat (knee) and Timothee Pembele (coronavirus protocols), while goalkeeper Keylor Navas is only expected to return to team training the day after the game.

There are also doubts over Mauro Icardi, who is nursing a bruised thigh, and Ander Herrera, who only this week resumed training after a month out with a muscle problem.

However, Pochettino is determined to field a strong enough side to reach the next round rather than simply use it as an opportunity to rotate and experiment with his tactics.

"We're not testing things in other competitions," he said. "We need to perform in all competitions. Against Caen, we'll need to play the best we can in order to win.

"We're going to take the best decisions in order to be competitive against Caen. That's our first objective. I'll analyse today the condition and the fitness of each player. We'll say who is available and take into account the risk of injury.

"We're going to select the best possible team, with players who are at 100 per cent, in every position, in order to win the match."

Paris Saint-Germain will visit either Guingamp or Caen when they begin their Coupe de France defence in the round of 64.

PSG won the competition last season as former head coach Thomas Tuchel masterminded a treble triumph, beating Saint-Etienne 1-0 in the final.

That successful campaign started away to sixth-tier Linas-Montlhery and Mauricio Pochettino's PSG will be on the road again after being drawn against Guingamp or Caen.

The Ligue 2 sides are set to face one another on January 20 for the right to host the French champions in February.

PSG have won the trophy a record 13 times, including five of the past six editions.

Saint-Etienne are also away - to Nancy or Sochaux - but Ligue 1 leaders Lyon will welcome Chateauroux or Ajaccio to the Groupama Stadium.

Marseille will visit Troyes or Auxerre, while Monaco are heading for Clermont or Grenoble.

Lille face Ligue 1 opposition in the form of struggling Dijon, and fourth visit seventh as Rennes go to Angers.

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