Paris Saint-Germain ran out 3-0 winners at the end of a match in which they were rarely troubled. We take a look back at a victory that consolidates Les Rouge et Bleus' position at the top of the Ligue 1 standings!
Two weeks after putting on a show at Angers SCO (4-2), Paris Saint-Germain returned to Ligue 1 action when they played host to Toulouse FC on Matchday 12. Luis Enrique was inevitably forced to make allowances for a number of late returns from the international break as he looked to topple a Toulouse side coming off three consecutive wins.
The Paris coach lined up a central defensive pairing of Milan Skriniar and Lucas Beraldo in front of Matvey Safonov's goal. Achraf Hakimi started with the captain's armband on the right flank, accompanied by Yoram Zague on the other side of the back four. In midfield, João Neves played the holding role, with Warren Zaïre-Emery and Désiré Doué taking care of business going forward. In attack, Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola occupied the wings in support of Marco Asensio, who lined up at centre-forward.
Les Rouge et Bleus' intentions were clear from the outset as they returned to the Parc des Princes: to monopolise possession and stretch Toulouse's defence as far as possible. But against a TéFéCé side who were coming off three consecutive clean sheets, finding the gaps was clearly going to be the toughest challenge of the evening. And in this situation, set-pieces could prove to be one of the main keys. The capital club were well aware of this, with Lucas Beraldo taking advantage of Milan Skriniar's deflected corner to sneak a subtle back-heel that drew a diving save from Guillaume Restes (7').
Gradually, the visitors began to break out of their half, even going so far as to test the gloves of the vigilant Safonov, who intervened to deny Yann Gboho (19'). Paris responded immediately, but neither Ousmane Dembélé's vicious cross (21') nor Warren Zaïre-Emery's powerful shot (22') could find a way past the Toulouse 'keeper. After the half-hour mark, it was Bradley Barcola's turn to try his luck, but the Paris winger's shot was blocked by Restes (34'). The capital club succeeded in suffocating their opponents, and were rewarded a few moments later when Hakimi's cross was met by João Neves, who volleyed the ball beyond a stranded Restes, who could only watch as it sailed across the line (1-0, 35').
You might have expected Toulouse to start the second half with a vengeance, but it was not to be. Technically sound and effective in counter-pressing, Luis Enrique's men never gave TFC a chance to get back into the game. On the contrary, the capital club even looked to have doubled their lead through Zaïre-Emery, only for his goal to be disallowed for off-side (54').
It was a wake-up call for the side from the Haute-Garonne region, who were pushing much higher up the pitch after the hour-mark. And the Parisians came close to paying the price as Zakaria Aboukhlal (69') and Shavy Babicka (71') drew gasps from the Parc faithful. But it was Les Rouge et Bleu who had the final say: Lucas Beraldo made no bones about doubling the lead with his left foot (2-0, 84'), before a freshly subbed on Vitinha added the finishing touch with a crisp shot in injury time (3-0, 90'+1 )!
At the end of a match that they dominated for most of the 90+ minutes, Paris Saint-Germain notched their fifth consecutive league win and maintained their six-point lead over second-placed Monaco. The capital club can now turn their attention to the Champions League and the perilous Matchday 5 trip to Bayern Munich that awaits them next Tuesday at the Allianz Arena ( 21:00). The date is set!