Paris Saint-Germain returned to winning ways, and stayed within touch of league leaders Lens, with a convincing victory over Rennes on Saturday night at the Parc des Princes.
The Match
“The league is more motivating right now,” Luis Enrique said this week of the increasingly credible threats to their title defence. Having surrendered top spot to Lens last week, Les Parisiens were looking to close the gap on their unanticipated rivals, who had taken a four-point lead earlier on Saturday. A resurgent Rennes, who were on a four-match winning streak, were not expected to be pushovers.
While the hosts duly dominated possession in the opening exchanges, the Bretons’ five-man backline held firm. The first major opportunity would fall to the visitors, with Estéban Lepaul hitting the post amid a flurry of Rennes chances midway through the half.
Their assault on the PSG goal was short-lived, though, with Kvaratskhelia opening the scoring on the half-hour mark with a solo counter-attack, cutting in from the left wing and finishing from the edge of the box. Senny Mayulu, another player whose goalscoring output was under the microscope of late, doubled the lead soon afterwards from João Neves’ ball across goal.
A solid Brice Samba would keep out shots from Mayulu and then Barcola at the start of the second half, but his teammates were unable to capitalise on the few opportunities they had at the other end. It was Kvaratskhelia who eventually sealed the win with an emphatic finish, shortly after Barcola had picked up a loose pass from Brassier to Samba.
Habib Beye’s men saw their evening go from bad to worse minutes later, as Jérémy Jacquet was shown a second yellow card for a stamp from behind on Gonçalo Ramos. Paris Saint-Germain were able to see out the result at walking pace, but not before Ibrahim Mbaye added to the scoreline with an impressive long-distance effort into the top corner. Gonçalo Ramos also added his customary goal off the bench, taking his tally for the league campaign to three.
PSG player ratings
Matvey Safonov – 7
Warren Zaïre-Emery – 6
Replaced by Quentin Ndjantou in the final ten minutes.
Marquinhos – 7
Willian Pacho – 8
Lucas Hernandez – 6
João Neves – 7
Replaced by Ibrahim Mbaye with ten minutes remaining.
Kang-in Lee – 5
The 24-year-old was heavily involved in both midfield and attack, but too wasteful in the final third. Replaced by Ousmane Dembélé on the hour mark.
Vitinha – 6
Replaced by Fabián Ruiz with twenty minutes remaining.
Bradley Barcola – 5
Senny Mayulu – 6
Khivcha Kvaratskhelia – 8
The Georgian bounced back from a middling spell of form with an electric performance, scoring twice and repeatedly breezing past Frankowski down the left wing. Replaced by Gonçalo Ramos with twenty minutes to go.
Selected Rennes player ratings
Brice Samba – 4
Przemysław Frankowski – 3
The Pole was often left to face Kvaratskhelia one-on-one, and the Georgian won the majority of their duels.
Lilian Brassier – 3
Mahdi Camara – 5
Estéban Lepaul – 6
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