Paris Saint-Germain continues to lead the way in Ligue 1 after a 3-0 win away at FC ensured that Olympique de Marseille's time at the summit was brief. Kylian Mbappe scored twice and added a third at Stade de la Beaujoire on Saturday with Antoine Kombouare's hosts down to 10 men for over two thirds of the game.
The sole negative for Christophe Galtier was a first-half injury to which the French tactician will hope is not too serious given the Portuguese midfielder's growing importance to the starting XI. switched things up with and taking a breather and starting from the bench in Nantes, but it did not slow Mbappe down and the French superstar was clinical inside of 18 minutes.
Messi teed his strike partner up and Mbappe gave no chance with a finish reminiscent of the 23-year-old's hat-trick strike in back in early 2021. It took until nine minutes into the second half for the combination to work again with Messi patient in providing a simple finish for the No. 7.
That is where Mbappe's involvement ended with Neymar coming on his place and also withdrawn as Ramos was sent on. The Brazilian needed just a few minutes to get involved and hit the post before Mendes followed up to score as PSG eased to victory and gave valuable minutes to the likes of too.
It was an ideal warm up ahead of in the opening Group H fixture of this season's UEFA Champions League (on Paramount+) and Galtier will be encouraged by this result and the midweek win over . Messi got two more assists there while Mbappe, Neymar and scored as some key figures were rotated for freshness ahead of a busy run.
Vitinha's injury is not good news, but the late transfer window arrivals of Fabian Ruiz from and from Valencia gives Galtier a wider range of alternatives than just . The Portuguese who was signed from OSC earlier this summer is yet to blend in seamlessly and is now starting to get more minutes as Galtier keeps his squad's condition in check.
AS have been PSG's one true test so far this campaign which ended in a draw and keeps them level on points with the likes of Marseille and potentially as well as RC . Juve this coming Tuesday will arguably be the acid test of this encouraging early season at Parc des Princes and Les Parisiens do seem better prepared than they have done for quite some time.
What cannot be argued with is that this is the most convincing PSG have looked since Messi's arrival and that the star attacking trio of the Argentine, Mbappe and Neymar appear focused and primed for an assault across all competitions this term. A winning start against Juve and Galtier's report card will be looking pretty positive heading towards the international break later this month.
Nantes
Paris Saint Germain
Game Simulator
France - Ligue 1
FINAL (9/3/2022)
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