A fine win to celebrate the Parc des Princes!

In a magical atmosphere, Paris Saint-Germain returned to their fortress today for the visit of Les Canaris. For this historic French league fixture, which was marked by the 30th anniversary of the Virage Auteuil, Mauricio Pochettino was able to rely on the trio of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar Jr to fire up a crowd that had already started to sing and shout at the top of their lungs in the early afternoon of a fine autumn day.

Incidentally, it didn't take long to see the stadium go into raptures. Spurred on by their high pressing right from the kick-off, the Parisians broke the deadlock with their first attack. Following a run from Neymar Jr, Leandro Paredes's long-range missile fell kindly for Mbappé, whose smart deflection hit the back of the net to make it 1-0 in the second minute. The in-form French international was able to celebrate, particularly as Paris's attack continued to sparkle.

Speed, fluidity, creativity – Les Rouge et Bleu had it all to delight their fans, as shown by the attacking trio, with some superb combination play that almost gave Leo Messi and Mbappé the chance to double their side's lead in the 17th and 22nd minute respectively. In the cold of the capital – which was in stark contrast with the warmth of the party at the Parc des Princes – Pochettino's players again stepped on the accelerator to try and beat a scintillating Alban Lafont. Those lovely team moves continued until the break in a joyful fog, as the first half set the tone of the match.

In the second half, however, it was an incident at the other end of the field – Keylor Navas's sending-off – that changed the balance of proceedings as the game was heading towards the closing stages. Having come on as a substitute, Sergio Rico was called into action on several occasions, but the Spanish keeper was unable to stop the ball from going in from a Randal Kolo Muani backheel in the 76th minute.

Down but not out, Les Rouge et Bleu found the resources to get going again when, under pressure from Messi, Dennis Appiah diverted the ball into his own net in the 81st minute. It was to be the straw that broke the camel's back for the visitors, as after an umpteenth run forward from Mbappé, the Frenchman played the ball to Messi, who wrapped up the win for Paris with a delightful strike into the bottom corner in the 87th minute.

It was the first goal in Ligue 1 for the Argentinian magician and a final piece of brilliance in what was a topsy-turvy game. Having shown brightness then togetherness, the Parisians remain in control of Ligue 1 and unbeaten at home ahead of their return to the European stage...