Watch Kylian Mbappe score long-range HEADER as he starts for PSG despite transfer speculation after Lionel Messi arrival
LIONEL MESSI may give Brest boss Michel der Zakarian a ‘hard on’.
But it was Kylian Mbappe that proved to be too irresistible for the Armenian’s side tonight.
Der Zakarian had purred in the wake of Messi’s arrival in Ligue 1, admitting that the Argentine gets him quite excited.
But with the 34-year-old’s debut at least another week away due to his lack of fitness, and with the likes of Neymar also out, other members of Mauricio Pochettino’s star-studded squad had to step up.
And their opening goal came from an unlikely source.
Former Manchester United star Ander Herrera scored an effort that absentees Neymar and Messi would have been proud of, sweeping home a first-time volley from 20 yards in the 23rd minute – although home goalkeeper Marco Bizot will feel he could have done better.
Just 13 minutes later the lead was doubled, with Kylian Mbappe netting a powerful header from range after some pinball in Brest’s box.
The 22-year-old has been the subject of intense transfer speculation, with links to Real Madrid not going away – despite PSG recruiting a whole host of stars including Messi to play with him.
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Mbappe was spotted walking alone in training by eagle-eyed observers, only raising the volume of speculation even further.
Brest clawed their way back in the game on the stroke of half-time, when Franck Honorat halved their deficit going into the break.
Mbappe was subsequently booked after the interval for a late challenge on Brest’s goalscorer Honorat, much to his protestations.
Idrissa Gueye became another unlikely scorer 17 minutes from time, bagging an extraordinary effort from around 35 yards.
The ball found its way to the former Everton man after a corner was cleared.
And, in acres of space, the midfielder decided to have a crack, with the ball again squirming through the clutches of Brest stopper Bizot and into the back of the net.
Mbappe, who was booed by portions of his own fans last weekend, received the same treatment from the Brest faithful this evening as he was substituted ten minutes from time, with PSG going on to see out victory… but only just.
GRANDSTAND FINISH
Former Huddersfield Town striker Steve Mounie profited from dreadful marking, or lack thereof, by Presnel Kimpembe – sweeping past Keylor Navas to set up a grandstand finish.
The underdogs couldn’t quite find a leveller despite Honorat getting himself in behind left-back Abdou Diallo a number of times.
And in fact it was PSG that would find the net again in the 90th minute, with Mbappe’s replacement Angel Di Maria dinking the ball over hapless Bizot from Achraf Hakimi’s lovely chipped pass on the counter attack.
The triumph extends PSG’s perfect start to the season to three wins out of three in Ligue 1, with messrs Messi, Sergio Ramos and Gianluigi Donnarumma still yet to feature.
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