PSG vs. Brest score: Mbappe continues to shine alone as Paris Saint-Germain notch another win
Sat, Jan 15, 2022
Soccer News (AP)
Paris Saint-Germain restored their 11-point lead at the Ligue 1 summit with a 2-0 home win over Stade Brestois 29 with Kylian Mbappe and Thilo Kehrer getting the goals for Mauricio Pochettino's hosts at Parc des Princes.
However, while the France international continues to remain Les Parisiens' star performer by some way, the 23-year-old was left with little choice against Michel Der Zakarian's men in the capital as most of his teammates failed to contribute.
Both Mbappe and Kehrer's finishes were clinical in either half with Nuno Mendes teeing the German up brilliantly after Gini Wijnaldum had provided for the opener but those were rare precious moments when the star-studded home side pulled together.
Otherwise, the Netherlands international again looked off the pace and did not last beyond the first half while Mauro Icardi toiled away up front without really contributing anything in the time that he was on the pitch.
Gone is Ander Herrera's strong early season form and the Spaniard is back to the workmanlike displays that make him little more than a squad rotation option like Danilo Pereira who joined him in the middle for the second half when Wijnaldum came off.
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- Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) January 15, 2022
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Instead of giving the likes of Xavi Simons and Edouard Michut full halves of soccer after their vibrant substitute appearances away at Olympique Lyonnais, Pochettino pursued the tried, tested and unimpressive options available to him first which resulted in another unappealing showing.
To accuse every PSG teammate of Mbappe's of performing well below their best levels would be unfair to the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma and his numerous key saves as well as captain Marquinhos who has been a rare poster boy for consistency in Paris.
Presnel Kimpembe played with renewed focus, to be fair, while Marco Verratti toyed with Brest on a few different occasions, but four players plus Mbappe does not make a team and once more there were simply too many passengers.
Angel Di Maria, for example, is no longer capable of performing at the same levels as his illustrious past while the same can be said for second half substitute Sergio Ramos with the exception that none of his prime has been played out with PSG.
Another week, another Parisien win in Le Championnat, but there is only so much Mbappe can do alone and Pochettino is one badly timed injury, suspension, or dip in form away from finding out how dependent his team truly are on their star No. 7.