Kylian Mbappe bagged a brace as Paris Saint-Germain finally got their first win Ligue 1 win of the season after defeating RC Lens 3-1 on Saturday night.
Ligue 1
Result: Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 Lens
Date: 26 August 2023
Venue: Parc des Princes
PSG gave Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Marco Asensio their first starts of the season, as three changes from their 1-1 draw against Toulouse.
The Parisians had a lion's share of possession in the early stages but struggled to find the target upfront and Lens were encouraged, as they threatened on counter-attacks.
Luis Enrique's charges only came close to breaking the deadlock on the half-hour mark after Kevin Danso cleared Mbappe's shot off the line and goalkeeper Brice Samba had to make a full-stretch save to keep out a dipping dangerous corner.
However, PSG's pressure finally paid off on the stroke of half-time as Asensio broke the deadlock with a low curling strike that found the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
The Parisians had a perfect start in the second stanza as Mbappe doubled their lead seven minutes from the break with a side-footed shot from close after a return pass from Lucas Hernandez.
In end to end attacks, Elye Wahi came close to reducing the deficit for Lens on 66 minutes with a close-range strike that was brilliantly pushed away at full stretch by goalkeeper Guinluigi Donnarumma.
Enrique made a tactical change in the last ten minutes to manage the game, as Fabian Ruiz came on for Dembele and in the dying minutes got the fresh legs of Carlos Soler in place of Warren Zaire-Emery in attack.
PSG were in control of the game in the tail end as Mbappe made it 3-0 in stoppage time and grabbed his brace with a deflected shot in the box after a cut-back by Ruiz.
Morgan Guilavogui scored a consolation goal for Lens in virtually the last action of the game, also via a deflection in the box after a cut-back by Florian Sotoca.
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