With a simple 5-0 victory against Auxerre at the Parc des Princes on Sunday, Paris Saint-Germain regained a five-point advantage over the competition at the top of Ligue 1 before the World Cup break.
What happened in the game?
Following some superb build-up work from Lionel Messi, who returned from injury to join the France striker and Neymar in attack, Kylian Mbappe scored the game’s first goal.
After Carlos Soler added a second goal and then provided an assist for Achraf Hakimi to score the third goal for the home team, PSG’s eighth straight victory in all competitions never seemed in doubt.
The depth of Christophe Galtier’s team was fully utilized, as late goals from substitutes Renato Sanches and Hugo Ekitike glamorized the final result.
Galtier was able to replace several of PSG’s stars who were leaving for Qatar due to the calm nature of the match because no players suffered any form of injuries.
With 11 minutes played, Messi lofted a beautiful ball over the Auxerre defense for Nuno Mendes to make a first-time pass to Mbappe, who then assisted the goal.
After a VAR review for a potential handball against Neymar, the goal stood, but Auxerre almost tied it when M’Baye Niang pushed Gianluigi Donnarumma into a superb save.
Prior to Mendes picking out Soler to score a header away from Benoit Costil and in off the far post early in the second half, PSG struggled mightily.
Six minutes later, Soler changed roles, passing to Hakimi, who calmly slid by Costil in a one-on-one situation.
Sanches shot off the post before fellow substitute Ekitike took advantage of some shoddy defense to calmly add a fifth from close range, but Messi was unable to put his name to the scoresheet.
Mbappe, Messi, and Neymar were the starting trio for PSG, but the hosts only managed two shots in the opening period, which was their lowest total in a league match since May 2021.
The quality and depth of the defending champions’ squad, however, shone through in their seven shots after the restart, five of which were on target and four of which resulted in goals.
PSG’s stats so far this season
Surprise gift With their fifth straight victory over Clermont on Saturday, Lens increased the pressure on league leaders PSG, but PSG still holds a commanding advantage with 15 games remaining.
The Parisians have now gone undefeated in 22 games in all competitions under Galtier, winning 18 of those games. This has been a promising start for Mauricio Pochettino‘s replacement.
The Parc des Princes continues to be the hardest place to visit in European football, as they are now unbeaten in 28 home league games.
While PSG have been a joy to watch, with today the eighth occasion they have scored three or more goals in 15 league games this term, it does not auger well for a real title challenge.
Next fixtures
Following Christmas, PSG will play host to Strasbourg while Auxerre will play Monaco.
