PLAYER RATINGS | PSG 3-1 Brest: Ousmane Dembélé and Fabián Ruiz make it four wins in four for league leaders

Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Round 4, 14/09/24

Paris Saint-Germain came from behind at the Parc des Princes to defeat Stade Brestois 3-1 and maintain their unbeaten start to the season. 

PSG had dropped provisionally down to third in the table ahead of tonight’s visit from Brest after Olympique de Marseille and AS Monaco both won in the earlier matches. Luis Enrique would be without two of his starting midfielders as Vitinha and Warren Zaïre-Emery suffered injuries during the international break, meaning Fabián Ruiz and Lee Kang-In filled in alongside João Neves. 

Despite the changes, Les Parisiens look like a well-oiled machine this season, and it was predictable that they would storm out of the blocks. The play was focused down the hosts’ right-hand side and Ousmane Dembélé and Achraf Hakimi delivered inviting crosses to their teammates. However, Marco Bizot was in inspired form between the posts. 

Bizot provided a platform for Brest to build on and the visitors slowly grew into the game as Ludovic Ajorque became more involved. The striker, on loan from FC Mainz, won a penalty in the 29th minute to help Les Pirates open the scoring. Ajoruqe was brought down needlessly by Nuno Mendes, the fullback holding onto the striker’s shirt in the box. 

Romain Del Castillo stepped up to the spot and fired his shot down the middle past Gianluigi Donnarumma. PSG stepped up the pressure; Marco Asensio forced Bizot into action in the 38th minute, before the hosts hard work finally earned a result a couple of minutes before half-time. Asensio crossed towards the back post and Dembélé met the ball. His bouncing header finally found a way to beat the flying Dutchman. 

PSG looked a touch less dangerous in the second half and by the 63rd minute, Luis Enrique made a double change as Mendes and Bradley Barcola were swapped for Willian Pacho and Désiré Doué. Two minutes later Les Parisiens had the ball in the net as Asensio’s shot swept past Bizot. However, the Spaniard was clearly offside to give the referee an easy decision to overrule the goal. 

Brest’s resistance would eventually fold with a quickfire double. A stunning shot from outside the box from Fabián Ruiz capped an incisive move from Dembélé and Hakimi. 80 seconds later Dembélé found his name on the scoresheet again as he capitalised on Randal Kolo Muani’s hard work to slot his shot past Bizot. 

Four wins in four would bring PSG back to the top of the table and put the club in good spirits ahead of their Champions League opener against Girona FC. However, for Eric Roy’s men, there are likely some concerns building. Brest have won only once against newly promoted AS Saint-Étienne.

PSG Player Ratings 

Gianluigi Donnarumma, 5 

Nuno Mendes, 4 – The fullback was replaced early by Willian Pacho. The defender had some bright moments, but the glaring problem was his needless mistake that allowed Brest a firm foothold into the game. The penalty was avoidable and turned an unthreatening situation into a goal.  

Milan Škriniar, 5

Lucas Beraldo, 5

Achraf Hakimi, 6

João Neves, 6

Fabián Ruiz, 7

Lee Kang-in, 7

Bradley Barcola, 5 – Not the winger’s best evening and he was substituted by Luis Enrique early in the second half. He had an important role to play in PSG’s equaliser winning the ball back before passing to Marco Asensio. However, it was far from the exciting form that he has shown throughout the early stages of this campaign. 

Marco Asensio, 7

Ousmane Dembélé, 8 – A man-of-the-match performance from the winger who has managed to equal his goal tally from last season (3) within the first four games of this campaign. The game at times had appeared to be a duel between Dembélé and Bizot, however, by the final whistle it was clear who had won. 

GFFN | Nick Hartland