Mueez Ajao
– Paris St-Germain returned to winning ways with Kylian Mbappe on target in a victory over Brest that takes them 11 points clear at the top of Ligue 1.
– PSG were without other stars including Lionel Messi and Neymar, but were still too good for their opponents.
– Mbappe fired in the opener from the edge of the box – his 19th goal of the season and 10th in the league.
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– Thilo Kehrer made sure of the points with a wonderful side-footed volley from Nuno Mendes’ cross.
– It was the defender’s second goal in as many league games following his equaliser against Lyon last weekend. He had only previously scored two Ligue 1 goals in total in 70 appearances.
– The win extended PSG’s unbeaten run in Ligue 1 to 12 games, but was just a second victory in the last six.
– They have endured significant disruption to their glittering side, including an injury to Neymar, Messi testing positive for Covid-19, and players including Achraf Hakimi and Idrissa Gueye taking part in the Africa Cup of Nations.
– Despite that, their starting XI is still the envy of the rest of France, and while not seamless, it was superior on Saturday.
– They have made a habit of late of conceding first and would have done so again but for Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb save to deny Irvin Cardona following Presnel Kimpembe’s misjudged backpass.
– But having survived that scare, they set about taking control and took the lead through Mbappe’s neat cut inside and superb low finish.
– Marco Verratti struck the inside of the far post with a toe-poke effort early in the second half before Kehrer struck to give the home side a more comfortable final 35 minutes, which included a late cameo from Sergio Ramos.
