It was just a flicker. Ferran Torres picks the ball up and passes it to João Neves. The Portuguese midfielder plays it into Ousmane Dembélé, who has lured in Raphaël Le Guen and eliminates him with a mesmeric first-time back-heel into the path of Torres. The Brest defence are just cones in a training drill, mere extras in this work of art as the Spaniard glides back into the scene to pass the ball into Egil Selvik’s bottom corner from 25 yards; it happened in slow motion but was too quick for the Norwegian goalkeeper to react.
It is a move that had the slick and elegant fluidity of what we have come to expect from Paris Saint-Germain. Just four minutes in, the champions were ahead, and the Stade Francis Le-Blé anticipated a show of force, a statement from their visitors.
Earlier in the week, Luis Enrique had described PSG’s start to the Ligue 1 season as “catastrophic”. A comfortable 6-1 win against minnows Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League in midweek signalled a welcome return to form. The Slovakian side’s manager, none other than Yaya Touré, described his opponents on the night as a “machine” – we’ve heard that before.
But once again, PSG were defective in Brittany on Sunday night, even if they did leave with all three points. Torres’ sublime finish was the only goal of the game. It was the Spaniard’s sixth since joining from Barcelona over the summer. Incredibly, all of his six efforts on target this season have found the net. He is clearly still riding the crest of a wave of confidence, having scored the winner in the World Cup final earlier this summer.
Torres’ supreme confidence is not shared by his teammates. Vitinha in particular has yet to resurface since the summer break and PSG collectively are suffering from the lack of incision that he usually provides. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is not quite back to his usual levels either and going into this game, there were creeping doubts about Matvey Safonov in goal. The Russian was at fault last weekend as Stanis Idumbo finished at his near post to secure a win for Monaco. It was at his near post that he conceded to Kai Havertz in the Champions League final in May; if there is a weakness in PSG’s armour, Safonov was the most likely candidate.
But it is only thanks to Safonov that PSG ended a run of five games without a win against French opponents. He was not forced into action when Nuno Mendes inexplicably played Kamory Doumbia in one-on-one in the second half, the Malian only managing to strike the outside of the PSG post. Safonov did get a strong hand down low to his left when Doumbia rose highest to thunder a header towards the PSG goal, and in the dying stages, Pathé Mboup’s curled effort to the far post was tipped around the corner.
Brest finished with a higher xG than the European champions but had no points to show for it. Moments of brilliance in both boxes were the difference. But that is what PSG are confined to at the minute: moments, flickers of brilliance. “For me, it was the worst of our four Ligue 1 matches, even if we won,” said Luis Enrique. “In the other three matches, we showed a high level at the back, but our opponents scored every chance. This time, it was the opposite.”
Alarm bells are not ringing. PSG often start slowly and it is only the quality of opposition that they faced at the start of the last campaign that ensured that there wasn’t such a significant deficit to the leaders. They are five points behind Lille, Monaco and Rennes, all of whom are on 10 points.
Earlier last week, Marquinhos said that it was “a matter of ambition and motivation” as PSG hoped to replicate the success of the last two seasons. Just like Torres’ passed finish, PSG are all about timing and they have a knack for peaking at just the right moment.
There were no doubts that Brest were up to the occasion. The Stade Francis Le-Blé was a cauldron of emotion as Eric Roy was commemorated. The Brest manager, who guided the club into European competition for the first time in their history, died in June after a battle with pancreatic cancer that began when he was appointed as the club’s manager in January 2023. His diagnosis was never made public.
Roy’s daughter, Victoria-Rose, spoke on the pitch before the match, “King Eric” shirts were worn on the sidelines, and there were further moments of commemoration in the stands throughout the game. Hugo Magnetti said after the match that they had played for Roy. “He would have been proud of us, but he would have also ticked us off for missing some big chances,” said the captain.
The game itself, at times, felt like a subplot, but what happened in it wasn’t inconsequential. Some of those fears about waning “ambition and motivation” were deepened, as was a crisis of confidence among some of the key players, despite victory. But there were also flickers of brilliance that Luis Enrique must hope will become more enduring as the season progresses.
Quick Guide
Ligue 1 results
Show
Lille 2-0 Troyes
Le Mans 2-2 Lens
Brest 0-1 PSG
Strasbourg 1-1 Monaco
Auxerre 1-0 Nice
Le Havre 0-0 Angers
Lorient 2-2 Toulouse
Paris FC 0-0 Lyon
Rennes 1-0 Marseille
Talking points
Will Still and Auxerre have their first points on the board thanks to their young English forward Cameron Archer. The Southampton loanee made his debut last weekend and scored a stunner in a 3-1 defeat to Lyon. This weekend he scored the only goal of the game against Nice. The win drags Auxerre off the bottom of the Ligue 1 table – a place now occupied by their opponents on the day. Nice, still without a win, sit rock bottom, having scored just once in their first four matches. Their coach, Olivier Pantaloni, says there are “traces” of last season’s difficult campaign lingering in the minds of his players. They must quickly dispel them in order to avoid a repeat.
Four games in and the temperature is already rising in Marseille. The season started well, with a 4-0 home win to Strasbourg on opening day, but they have since lost to Monaco, Paris FC and Rennes. There is no real shame in any of those defeats; the matches were close and the opponents are expected to be in the race for Europe. “We can rival these teams but not yet beat them,” said Bruno Génésio after the 1-0 defeat at Rennes on Friday. Génésio added that it was not up to him to state the club’s objectives this season – a clear message to his superiors. “We may need to explain things more clearly,” he added. “Maybe we have to say it so that people can understand.” The lack of quality and depth in the squad says enough; Marseille are outsiders in the race for European football.
This is an article by Get French Football News
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