Ligue 1, Brest 1-2 Paris Saint-Germain: Mbappe spares PSG blushes but performance

PSG
appeared
to
be
limping
to
a
1-1
draw
at
Stade
Francis-Le
Ble,
which
would
have
been
a
major
disappointment
after
defeat
to
Bayern
Munich,
only
for
Mbappe
to
step
up
and
spare
their
blushes.

Carlos
Soler
had
put
PSG
in
front
late
in
the
first
half,
but
Brest
arguably
played
the
better
football
and
were
good
value
for
Franck
Honorat’s
excellent
equaliser.

A
commendable
point
looked
set
to
be
Brest’s
reward
for
a
spirited
display,
though
Lionel
Messi
and
Mbappe
linked
up
in
the
90th
minute
to
put
PSG
11
points
clear.

3000
–
Paris
are
the
12th
team
to
reach
3000
goals
in
Ligue
1
history.
PSG
have
reached
this
milestone
in
their
1858th
top-flight
game,
only
Marseille
(1801)
and
St
Etienne
(1816)
have
reached
this
tally
in
fewer
games.
Elite.

#SB29PSG
pic.twitter.com/LLPFOlBLFD

—
OptaJean
(@OptaJean)

March
11,
2023

PSG
quickly
established
control
and
almost
took
an
early
lead.
Despite
a
comical
air
kick,
Messi
managed
to
nudge
the
ball
to
Soler
while
stumbling,
and
the
Spaniard
saw
his
attempt
pushed
onto
the
post
by
Marco
Bizot.

Bizot
could
not
deny
Soler
in
the
37th
minute,
however,
the
midfielder
smashing
home
after
Mbappe’s
long-range
strike
was
parried.
But
PSG
were
soon
pegged
back.

The
lively
Honorat
brought
down
Romain
Del
Castillo’s
lofted
throughball
and
held
off
Sergio
Ramos
and
Timothee
Pembele,
before
emphatically
finishing
beyond
Gianluigi
Donnarumma.

Honorat
turned
provider
10
minutes
after
half-time,
but
Lilian
Brassier’s
wayward
header
failed
to
do
the
pinpoint
delivery
justice.

PSG’s
desperation
soon
began
to
spawn
chances.
Bizot
pushed
a
Messi
curler
wide,
while
Mbappe
spurned
two
opportunities.

The
two
later
combined
to
seal
the
points,
however.
Mbappe
broke
the
offside
trap
to
collect
Messi’s
pass
and
he
slotted
home
after
rounding
the
helpless
Bizot.

What
does
it
mean?
Mbappe
or
bust
as
PSG
test
their
luck

PSG
coach
Christophe
Galtier
will
have
wanted
a
forceful
response
to
the
Bayern
defeat,
and
although
he
ultimately
got
the
three
points,
this
was
hardly
a
performance
that
will
appease
the
critics.

Brest
played
the
more
eye-catching
football
for
periods
on
Saturday,
and
the
eventual
Mbappe
winner
practically
came
out
of
nowhere
–
PSG
had
created
chances,
but
at
that
point
in
the
game
they
had
almost
looked
resigned
to
dropping
points.

Of
course,
it
pays
to
have
the
quality
of
Messi
and
Mbappe
in
your
starting
XI
–
in
Ligue
1,
anyway.

Messi
pulls
the
strings

Nobody
would
try
to
claim
Messi
was
at
his
best
here,
but
if
PSG
were
ever
going
to
pull
a
result
out
of
the
hat,
he
always
looked
likely
to
be
the
inspiration.

His
perfectly
timed
throughball
for
the
winner
was
his
sixth
key
pass
of
the
game,
at
least
three
more
than
anyone
else
on
the
pitch.

Dari’s
concentration
does
him
a
disservice

Unfortunately
for
Brest,
Achraf
Dari’s
lack
of
concentration
late
on
proved
costly,
and
it
was
a
particular
shame
because
he
had
been
so
good
until
then.

He
reacted
late
when
trying
to
catch
Mbappe
offside,
and
the
striker
punished
him.
Beforehand,
he
had
made
a
match-high
eight
clearances,
seemingly
in
the
right
place
and
the
right
time
until
that
late
lapse.

What’s
next?

PSG
host
Rennes
a
week
on
Sunday
(March
19),
when
Brest
face
fellow
strugglers
Troyes.