On the seventh day of the Ligue 1 season, Paris Saint-Germain prevailed over Stade Brestois by a score of 1-0. Here are our picks for the top and bottom performers of the match.
TOPS
The Parisian passing game
The Parisians continued to use the same pattern and combination throughout the first half of the game, which resulted in Lionel Messi creating long opportunities behind the Brest defense. If the first two sequences acted as repetition with failures from Neymar then Mbappé (11th and 13th), the third sequence was the good one: the Brazilian crossed his powerful strike to open the scoring following a fantastic control (30th), and he scored the only goal of the game as a result (1-0). Messi and Neymar imposed their will on the Parisian game by controlling the tempo. They did this by creating long expanses in space and making tiny passes in the depth of the field. By the time the game was through, the South American combo had completed 81% of their passes successfully. Although Mbappé was more circumspect in this compartment, he still managed to record 89% in the past despite breaking the Brest curtain with fast calls.
Read also: PSG beats Brest after suffering a painful loss and reclaims the top spot in the Ligue 1 table.
Honorat guides the Brest counterattacks
Even though Stade Brestois had a difficult time being present in attack throughout the first half and a half, Franck Honorat made multiple attempts to break through on the right side of the field. Throughout the entirety of the match, he was the player who led the majority of Brest’s counterattacks. Islam Slimani had a good eye for the distance of his crosses, but he was never able to follow the offerings of his teammates. At the end of the match, he had a success rate of 78% on his passes and was the architect of numerous strong pressing sequences, most notably on the action after Messi’s post, when Honorat swiftly lifted for Fadiga, then Camara (54th).
Donnarumma saves PSG
Gigio Donnarumma, even though he was rarely called upon in the opening hour of play, made several crucial saves for Paris Saint-Germain, which allowed his club to clinch the victory and the three points. The Italian goalkeeper made a fantastic save from the penalty kick that was awarded to Slimani in the 72nd minute following a foul that was committed by Presnel Kimpembe on Bandiougou Fadiga. After missing his header, ten minutes remained, and the former Milanese swiftly moved to the ground to avoid CSC Kimpembe (80th). The Parisian team had become overconfident, but Donnarumma made two crucial stops, which helped calm them down. He successfully finishes the fight with three parries, as well as an aerial sortie.
Donnarumma’s stop on Slimani. CHRISTIAN HARTMANN / REUTERS
Read also: Ligue 1: Donnarumma hails team’s “good” performance: “We were solid” (PSG)
FLOPS
Worrying Kimpembe
It was brought to light during the final weeks of the transfer market that the defensive sector of PSG is not even close to being able to bring insurance to this meeting with the speculations surrounding Disasi and Skriniar in the foreground. Danilo Perreira, who was entrenched in the three-man defense, was, paradoxically, the most steady and reliable of the three players. The captain of the day for PSG, Presnel Kimpembe, came dangerously close to costing his team valuable points. First, he was responsible for the foul that led to Fadiga’s penalty, which Slimani failed to convert. If the error is relatively minor, “Presko” has not yet caught up to the rest of the pack. The French international may thank Gigio Donnarumma for deflecting his blunder into a corner as it nearly resulted in a goal-saving clearance (CSC) on his headed attempt (80th). In the closing seconds, he was wounded on an avoidable sliding tackle in midfield (90th).. (90th)…
Read also: Kimpembe is expected to miss at least two matches after picking up an injury against Brest.
The lack of realism in Brest
What a terrible thing to happen to the Stade Brestois! Because Paris Saint-Germain started to doubt themselves and made a few defensive blunders in the second half, the Bretons likely have some misgivings about their play in that period. However, the Der Zakarian players chose not to mount their low block to avoid taking any unnecessary risks. Brest could have picked up a point on this Saturday afternoon if they had allowed themselves more leeway in their attacking game. They took four corners and had two shots on target (out of two attempts), but they were unable to do so because of the difficulty of coming to the Parc des Princes.
Slimani gets a magnifying glass
The striker for Brest did not have his best performance in this game… Islam Slimani should have been more decisive considering he lost 17 possessions, committed three fouls, and had a penalty opportunity go to waste. On multiple times, he was behind on the counter sequences that his team was running, especially with the extremely nice crosses that Franck Honorat was providing (10th). At the end of the game, he had two shots, with only one of them hitting the target. The impact is insufficient.