Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Leandro Paredes all found the net as Paris Saint-Germain bounced back from their UEFA Champions League exit to beat bottom side Bordeaux 3-0 on Sunday and extend their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table.
THE MATCH
The cloud of Wednesday's loss to Real Madrid — and the end of PSG's 2021/22 European dream — hung heavy over the Parc des Princes at kick-off where Mauricio Pochettino's men were seeking to add to their 12-point advantage over second-placed Nice against a Bordeaux side that had won just one of its last 10 away trips in the division, and had only one victory in 2022.
Following his mistake in the Spanish capital, Gianluigi Donnarumma was taken out of the firing line as Keylor Navas returned in goal, but bar the suspended Marco Verratti, Pochettino did not tweak his starting XI much as he gave them an opportunity at redemption.
Navas was tested almost immediately by Rémi Oudin (1') and Jean Onana headed across goal (2') as Bordeaux made a strong start against a Paris team that appeared stuck in the starting blocks. Only Mbappé — the scorer in Madrid — was spared the pre-match whistles by the disgruntled PSG fans, and the France international stood out again, racing onto Georginio Wijnaldum's through ball to fire home a 15th league goal of the season (24').
Though they had just conceded for the 14th time in as many away games this season, Bordeaux remained the better side. Oudin forced Navas to make a block at his near post (30') but they still had to contend with Mbappé's individual brilliance, and he bent a shot just wide of the far corner (35').
After the break, another of PSG's individual talents, Neymar, came to the fore, though he benefitted from a piece of collective quality. Out of sorts in the opening 45 minutes, the Brazil international was on the end of Achraf Hakimi's low cross at close range after Lionel Messi had played through the Morocco international full-back.
A mis-timed Marcelo challenge on Wijnaldum was initially given as a penalty, but an offside flag against Mbappé meant referee François Letexier reversed the decision (58'); there was no such respite when Mbappé's shot ricocheted into the path of Paredes, who cleverly stepped round two men before smashing a rising shot beyond Gaëtan Poussin (61').
The Argentina international's first goal of the season finally drew the sting of Bordeaux, and Messi came desperately close to adding a fourth, but after swivelling and firing goalwards, his shot hit a post (87'), though it didn't stop PSG clinching a 15th home win in a 16-game unbeaten run at the Parc des Princes.
THE PLAYER: Kylian Mbappé
The soon-to-be out-of-contract forward reminded everyone just why PSG are desperate to get him to sign a new deal. He's now the sixth French player to score 15 league goals or more in four successive seasons in one of Europe's top five leagues after Thierry Henry, Antoine Griezmann, Alexandre Lacazette, Karim Benzema and Wissam Ben Yedder.
THE STAT: 7
PSG have now won seven of their last nine league matches after being knocked out of the Champions League under their current Qatari owners.
