Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain v Stade Rennes - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - September 27, 2024 Paris St Germain's Lee Kang-in in action with Stade Rennes' Christopher Wooh and Azor Matusiwa REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
PARIS (Reuters) -Paris St. Germain's unbeaten start to their Ligue 1 season continued on Friday with a comfortable 3-1 win over Rennes at the Parc des Princes that saw Bradley Barcola score twice to keep them top of the standings.
After a sizzling start to the league campaign that featured 13 goals in their opening three games, PSG’s attack has misfired of late but on Friday they showed signs of a return to form.
PSG moved to 16 points, three clear of Olympique de Marseille and Monaco at the top of the table.
PSG squandered some decent chances but finally made the breakthrough on the half-hour mark, surging forward through the middle before Ousmane Dembele slipped the ball for Barcola to calmly pick his spot and curl it home.
Barcola's battle with Rennes defender Leo Ostigard came to define game and the French attack also lay behind PSG's second in the 58th minute, hitting the woodwork with a rasping shot that South Korean midfielder Lee Kang-in reacted quickest to head home the rebound.
Ten minutes later Barcola's run to the far post was expertly picked out by Achraf Hakimi's pinpoint pass, leaving him a simple close-range finish to make it 3-0.
Rennes were thrown a late lifeline through an Arnaud Kalimuendo penalty, who sent Steve Mandanda the wrong way with his spot kick in the 75th minute, and all of a sudden PSG looked shaky again.
The visitors continued to pour forward and Alidu Seidu lashed the ball into the net from close range after his initial shot was blocked in the 87th minute, but the goal was ruled out as the ball struck his hand in the build up.
That effectively ended their short-lived comeback.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor)
