Ferran Torres Leads PSG to 1-0 Victory Over Brest
Ferran Torres struck early and Paris Saint-Germain finally found a pulse in Ligue 1, grinding out a 1-0 win away to Brest on Sunday that felt more like a reset than a routine three points.
Luis Enrique’s side had stumbled into the domestic season with just two points from their first three matches, an oddly flat start for a squad built to dominate at home and in Europe. They had roared into their Champions League campaign in midweek, smashing Slovan Bratislava 6-1, and four days later it was the same man at the heart of the response.
Torres carries the champions
Torres, the marquee summer arrival from Barcelona and the man who scored Spain’s World Cup-winning goal this summer, walked into Brittany in red-hot form after a midweek hat-trick. He left with his sixth goal in five games for PSG and, crucially, their first league win of the season.
The breakthrough came almost immediately. In the fifth minute, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele produced a moment of audacity, flicking a backheel into space for the onrushing Torres. The Spaniard didn’t hesitate. Striding onto the ball just outside the ‘D’, he opened his body and guided a precise shot into the bottom corner, beyond Egil Selvik’s dive and into the silence of a stunned Stade Francis-Le Blé.
From there, PSG finally looked like champions again in flashes. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia almost doubled the lead before the interval in a lively first half, stretching Brest with his movement and direct running.
But the night never felt entirely comfortable for the visitors.
Hakimi worry tempers PSG lift
Just as PSG seemed to be settling, they were hit with a setback. Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi limped off shortly before half-time, forcing Luis Enrique into an early reshuffle as Fabian Ruiz came on and the back line adjusted on the fly.
Brest, who had arrived unbeaten and level with PSG in the table, refused to fold. Five minutes into the second half they came within inches of levelling. Nuno Mendes gifted the ball straight to Kamory Doumbia, who strode through with only Matvey Safonov to beat. His low effort beat the keeper but not the woodwork, cannoning back off the post with the home crowd already half-celebrating.
The pressure briefly told again moments later when the hosts turned the ball into their own net, only for the goal to be ruled out for a push by Warren Zaire-Emery that had forced the mistake. Brest’s belief stayed intact; PSG’s nerves did too.
In the closing stages, Safonov had to step up. The PSG goalkeeper produced a crucial late save, springing low to his right to fingertip a Pathe Mboup effort around the far post and preserve the slender lead. It was the kind of stop title defences often depend on, long before anyone talks about trophies.
Torres, speaking after another decisive performance, kept the focus on his role rather than his numbers. The 26-year-old stressed that his priority is always to help the team “regardless of how much playing time the coach decides to give me,” whether through goals, assists, or sheer work rate. Right now, he is doing all three.
The win lifts PSG up to eighth, level with Brest on points and record, and at least restores a sense of direction to a stuttering domestic start.
Before kick-off, Brest had paused the noise for a moment of emotion, paying tribute to former coach Eric Roy, who died in June at the age of 58 after suffering from pancreatic cancer. The applause rolled around the stadium; the fight on the pitch that followed felt like a fitting nod to his spirit.
Ethan Mbappe’s response in Lille’s rise
Earlier in the day, another storyline unfolded in the north. At Lille, Ethan Mbappe turned a bruising week into a personal response.
Sent off in midweek in the Champions League for elbowing an opponent during Lille’s 3-2 home defeat to Real Betis, the younger brother of Kylian Mbappe walked into Sunday under scrutiny. He walked off having scored and apologised.
Lille led Troyes thanks to a first-half strike from Portuguese full-back Tiago Santos, but the game remained in the balance deep into stoppage time. Mbappe, introduced from the bench, settled it. His late goal sealed a 2-0 win and sent Lille to the top of Ligue 1 on goal difference, above Monaco and Rennes.
It was his first goal since December. The celebration was muted: an apology to the supporters for his midweek red card rather than a triumphant release.
Coach Davide Ancelotti, in his first season in charge and already shaping a sharp, disciplined side, underlined the significance of the week for the 19-year-old. Mbappe, he said, had “come to his senses” after the sending off, shown maturity, and taken responsibility for his actions. The Italian also pointed to the youngster’s quality, which had been on display again against Troyes.
Under Ancelotti, Lille have collected 10 points from a possible 12. The son of Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti is making a fast, clear impression in Ligue 1.
Lens feel the strain
Not everyone is riding the early-season wave. Lens, last season’s surprise title challengers, are discovering how hard it is to live in the afterglow of a breakout campaign.
Their European form tells one story: a 3-2 Champions League win away at Slavia Prague on Thursday, and a victory over PSG in the French Champions’ Trophy last month. Their Ligue 1 form tells another.
A 2-2 draw at newly-promoted Le Mans on Sunday leaves them on four points from four games and sitting 10th. The contrast is stark. The energy that carried them through last season’s title race is still there on big European nights, but the domestic grind is proving less forgiving.
As PSG lean on Torres to spark their recovery, Lille ride the momentum of a new coach, and Ethan Mbappe tries to turn a difficult week into a launchpad, Lens are left with the question that defines so many French seasons: can they turn flashes of brilliance into something that lasts from August to May?
