Kylian Mbappé had a hand in all three goals, scoring one and teeing up Neymar for the other two as the pair teamed up to devastating effect to lead French league leaders Paris Saint-Germain to a 3-2 win at Bordeaux on Saturday.
THE MATCH
PSG had picked up just a single UEFA Champions League point from their midweek trip to Leipzig, and on their return to domestic matters, they were still without the injured Lionel Messi at the Matmut Atlantique as they sought to reinforce their position at the top of the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table having seen Lens close to within seven points with their win over Troyes on Friday.
Despite the upcoming international break, Mauricio Pochettino made six changes to the starting XI from Wednesday's game in Germany; Georginio Wijnaldum, who netted his first PSG goals in the 2-2 draw, did keep his place, and the ex-Liverpool man headed over an early chance (3') with the visitors looking to extend their unbeaten run against Les Girondins to 13 league games.
Vladimir Petkovic's side contains a certain degree of quality, and Timothée Pembélé — on loan from PSG — and former PSG man Yacine Adli displayed it in flashes in the opening period. The problem for the hosts is that PSG have even more, and Mbappé and Neymar clicked sublimely to put Pochettino's side in charge.
Neymar ended his side's run of two away games without scoring — and his own five-game goalless drought — when he brought down Mbappé's diagonal ball and took a step inside before whipping a shot between Benoît Costil and the Bordeaux goalkeeper's near post (26').
Then, after the duo had threatened to repeat the trick on a couple of occasions, they did so: cutting in from the left, Neymar found Mbappé, who cutely flicked an inviting ball back into his teammate's path. The Brazilian superstar calmly passed a shot beyond Costil to net his third Ligue 1 Uber Eats goal of the season (43').
Pembélé tested Keylor Navas at his near post in the dying seconds of the first half (45+2'), and Adli sent the Costa Rica international sprawling to his left by bending an effort goalwards from distance (52') with Petkovic's men aiming to force their way back into the game.
Their problem was PSG were not yet satisfied. Neymar, who despite seeking to find Mbappé in the middle, nearly caught out Costil with a mishit cross that would have sneaked in (54'); at the opposite end, Elis did not make the contact he would have liked when the ball arrived in the six-yard box, but Navas still had to get down low to block the Honduras international's effort (57').
There was no helping Costil as PSG stretched their lead to three, however. Ander Herrera's ball sliced through the Bordeaux backline, Wijnaldum raced clear and drew Costil before slipping a pass to his right to give Mbappé the easiest of the six league goals he has scored this season (62').
Neymar fed Mbappé to send a cross-cum-shot across the face of goal (65') as PSG threatened to add to the scoreline. The second-half introduction of Mbaye Niang, for only his second appearance since joining from Rennes, sharpened Bordeaux's cutting edge, and just after the Senegal international got a a header on target that brought a save from Navas (78'), Elis swept in a low cross from Adli (79') to reduce Les Girondins' deficit.
That sparked a frantic finale from the hosts, and Rémi Oudin sorely tested Navas from the edge of the box (81') as Bordeaux piled on the pressure in the closing minutes. Niang then swapped passes with another substitute, boyhood PSG fan Jimmy Briand, to pull another goal back (90+2') with seconds left, but the visitors ensured they will be at least eight points clear of their nearest challengers during the international break depending on Nice's result at home to Montpellier on Sunday (kick-off 5pm CET).
THE PLAYER: Neymar
The Brazil international has been in good form in recent games, and added goals to his performance to orchestrate his club's 11th win in 13 league games. His understanding with Mbappé continues to bear fruit for PSG, and he now has seven goals against Bordeaux, the most he has scored against any Ligue 1 opponent.
THE STAT: 11
Mbappé has provided the assist on 11 of Neymar's Ligue 1 Uber Eats goals since the pair teamed up at PSG in August 2017 — that's eight more than any other PSG player.
>> MATCH REPORT: Lens 4-0 Troyes
