Neymar bagged his 10th goal of the season as Paris Saint-Germain cemented top spot with victory over Brest on Saturday evening.
Ligue 1
Result: Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Brest
Date: 10 September 2022
Venue: Parc des Princes
Fresh from the win over Juventus in midweek, PSG coach Christophe Galtier handed a start to Danilo Pereira in place of Marquinhos while Juan Bernat came in for Nuno Mendes.
The hosts dominated from the onset as Bernat went close to grabbing an assist on his return as he latched onto Lionel Messi's pass before teeing up Mbappe, who blazed the over the crossbar.
Brest were lucky not to have been reduced to ten men on 27 minutes when Pierre Lees-Melou appeared to bring Neymar down as the last man. However, the Video Assistant Referee came to his rescue and he was only given a yellow card.
Nevertheless, PSG took the lead three minute slater when Messi set up Neymar with a lovely pass and the Brazilian rifled the ball into the bottom corner.
Brest were unable to carve out any serious openings as the first half continued, while the hosts did go close in added time when Kylian Mbappe saw his close-range strike kept out by goalkeeper Marco Bizot.
PSG carried the momentum into the second stanza, with Messi going close after seeing his header at the far post crash against the woodwork after some good work by Mbappe.
However, Brest were afforded the perfect chance to draw level after being awarded a penalty on 70 minute for Prensel Kimpembe's foul on Fadiga. Islam Slimani stepped up but saw his spot-kick saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Galtier surprisingly withdrew both Neymar and Mbappe for the final 15 minutes, with Pablo Sarabia and Nuno Mendes introduced for the closing stages.
There were no late scares from the away side in the final minutes, as the defending champions held on for the win and reclaimed top spot.
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