Idrissa Gueye revealed his stunning strike that helped Paris Saint-Germain maintain their 100% start to the Ligue 1 Uber Eats season at Brest on Friday was the fruit of hard work on the training ground, stating: "I didn't think and I shot."
After Ander Herrera and Kylian Mbappé had both found the net to give PSG a comfortable lead, Franck Honorat pulled one back for Brest to leave the Breton hosts within a goal at half-time. Gueye, however, restored the visitors' two-goal lead in spectacular fashion, smashing a shot beyond Marco Bizot from 30 yards with 17 minutes left to mark his first appearance of the 2021/22 campaign in royal style.
"It was an almost perfect evening. I am happy to have made my return after a period with Covid-19 where I stayed at home without training. It was important to be back out on the pitch today, with my friends and to win this match," said Gueye after netting his first league goal since last December.
"These are strikes that I often work on in individually in training. It comes automatically in a match when you are used to doing it in training. It's what I did here, it came instantaneously. I didn't think and I shot. Today, I was lucky to score."
Steve Mounié pulled another goal back for Brest to make it a nervous last five minutes for PSG, but Angel Di Maria came off the bench to dash the hopes of a buoyant capacity crowd at the Stade Francis Le Blé with a trademark delicate lob in the dying minutes that lifted his team to the top of the table thanks to a third successive victory.
"I am very happy, very pleased to have been able to play again, to wear this shirt again, to be with the team for this first match, and to be able to score," said the Argentina international, who returned late to pre-season training having helped his country win the Copa America.
"I think that it's important for our confidence to start well. The truth is that I am very happy, especially about the win. I think that [my goal] was important because the score was still 3-2 at that moment in the match. We needed it."
"I think we played really well in the first half. It's a shame that we conceded the goal in the way that we did. In the second half, we again had the control of the game and I think at 3-1, it seemed as if it was nearly done. We then conceded another goal and then there were five very crazy minutes," added PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino, who had neither Lionel Messi nor Neymar in his travelling squad.
"But the victory and the three points are important in the period before the international break. It's important to have nine points and be at the top of the table. It's also vital to build our confidence and develop the way that we are playing."
>> MATCH REPORT: Clinical PSG go top
