Paris Saint-Germain were hoping to move one point behind Nice at the top of the table as they face Brest in Ligue 1’s Sunday lunchtime kick-off. Les Parisiens had won the last 5 previous encounters between the two sides before this clash and needed to make it 6 to avoid losing more ground in the title race.
Lee Kang-in had a great opportunity to give Paris an early lead but Bizot was able to parry his effort away. The parried shot fell directly into the path of Bradley Barcola but the former Lyon winger couldn’t find the back of the net. Bizot was a busy man in the opening 5 minutes he was tasked with turning away Zaïre-Emery’s rasping shot from the edge of the area. Donnarumma was almost punished for a lackadaisical approach to playing out of the back, but Mounié couldn’t reach Le Douaron’s chipped cross.
Zaïre-Emery broke the deadlock in the 16th minute after bursting into space following Barcola’s pass and unleashing a rocket into the top corner from distance. The 17-year-old left Bizot with no chance. Lee Kang-in continued the rampage on Bizot’s goal as he linked up well with Ramos but the Dutch stopper was equal to his effort to keep it to 1-0.
Mbappé made it two in the 27th minute after Lee Kang-in hit a wonderful pass to play the France captain in behind the Brest defence. The 24-year-old isolated Chardonnet and managed to beat him with ease, with the help of a ricochet, before placing his shot low beyond Bizot. Mbappé almost had his second and PSG’s third of the game with a low shot from the edge of the area but the Brest stopper was equal to it.
Steve Mounié gave Brest a route back into the match on the stroke of halftime as he headed Kenny Lala’s whipped cross beyond Donnarumma in the Paris goal. Brest halved their deficit when PSG looked like they were cruising. The striker had the first opportunity of the second half following a corner but Danilo Pereira threw himself in front of the shot. Brest restored parity from the following corner. Jérémy Le Douaron met Del Castillo’s corner at the near post and glanced his header beyond the Italian stopper into the bottom corner to make it 2-2.
Paris had sceptical chances from distance to level afterwards from Mbappé and Ruiz but both efforts were off target. It was Brest who looked most likely to find the lead though with Jérémy Le Douaron coming mightily close to finding his second but Donnarumma managed to get a big hand to his shot to turn it around the post.
With 5 minutes to go, PSG were awarded a penalty following a clumsy challenge from Brassier which brought down Randal Kolo Muani in the area. Mbappé initially found his penalty saved by Bizot but it was parried straight back to him and he tapped the ball home on the rebound to restore PSG’s lead and secure all three points.
PSG Player Ratings:
Gianluigi Donnarumma – 5
Achraf Hakimi – 6
Danilo Pereira – 6
Milan Škriniar – 5, The Slovakian defender continuously made a mess of playing out of the back and put PSG under unnecessary pressure. He struggled to contain Brest’s high press during the first half.
Lucas Hernández – 6
Fabian Ruiz – 6
Warren Zaïre-Emery – 7, The 17-year-old largely impressed again with his ability to read the game at such a young age. His strike from 25 yards is sublime and a goal-of-the-season contender.
Lee Kang-in – 7, The South Korean impressed from midfield with his ability to find space in attacking areas and his impeccable choice of pass. Lee’s ball for Mbappé in behind showed excellent technique and vision.
Bradley Barcola – 6
Gonçalo Ramos – 5
Kylian Mbappé – 7, On an eventful afternoon for the stand-in PSG captain, his brace was the difference between the two sides and saved Les Parisiens’ blushes to ensure they travelled back to the capital with 3 points.
