Greg . 1 day ago

Vitinha strike sees PSG defeat Nantes to start title defence off in style

Paris Saint-Germain began their quest for a club record fifth consecutive Ligue 1 title with a laboured 1-0 win over Nantes, who have now failed to win any of their last nine season openers (D4, L5).

Fresh from winning the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday, Luis Enrique elected to reshuffle his pack in what has been a gruelling summer schedule.

A star-studded bench including the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Achraf Hakimi watched on, as several fringe players were offered a opportunity to impress.

Enrique’s opposite number, Luís Castro, was taking charge of his first competitive match, and would have been encouraged by the way Nantes began here, restricting the visitors to a couple of half-chances from Bradley Barcola and Gonçalo Ramos in the opening 25 minutes.

Yassine Benhattab was proving to be a handful for Nantes down the right flank, and he surged down the pitch before forcing Lucas Chevalier into a save on his league debut for PSG.

As for the Parisiens, they had most of the ball without creating many clear openings themselves, but Ramos almost provided the breakthrough after drawing Anthony Lopes out of goal before firing his angled strike onto the crossbar.

Nantes - PSG match statsOpta by StatsPerformWith Enrique’s men struggling to find a way through a resolute Canaries backline, Enrique drew upon his embarrassment of riches by making a quadruple change that included the introduction of Desire Doue, Dembele, Hakimi, and Nuno Mendes.

It was Mendes who laid the ball on a plate for Vitinha to fire home a 67th-minute opener, as his long-range strike took a hefty deflection off Chidozie Awaziem before beating the wrong-footed Lopes.

The goal ensured that the Parisians had now scored at least once in 29 successive meetings between the two teams.

 Ramos thought he had doubled their advantage after latching onto Doué’s pass, but the VAR ruled it out for offside.

This was hardly a vintage performance from Enrique’s side, but was certainly excusable given the strain of an incredibly congested fixture calendar.

Their quality still shone through here against a Nantes side which showed plenty of endeavour, but not enough quality, with the Pays de la Loire outfit now winless in their last eight meetings against PSG (D2, L6), as Castro made a losing start in the dugout.

Betopick Man of the Match: Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain)Check out all the match stats here