PSG vs Brest result, highlights: Neymar goal, Messi assist, and Donnarumma penalty save enough for 1-0 win

Simon Borg

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PSG vs Brest result, highlights: Neymar goal, Messi assist, and Donnarumma penalty save enough for 1-0 win image

PSG are back at the top of the Ligue 1 after hanging on for a narrow 1-0 home win over relegation-threatened Stade Brestois, who failed to convert a late penalty which would have equalized the match. 

It was PSG's sixth win in seven league matches, but it didn't come with the same newfound swagger of recent victories under new manager Christophe Galtier. Brest was the better team in the second half and came on strong to end the match. But PSG 'keeper Gigi Donnarumma stopped Islam Slimani's penalty to preserve the 1-0 advantage.

Neymar continued his hot start to the campaign with the game-winning goal in the first half. The Brazilian scored his league-leading eighth goal of the season, converting a spectacular assist from Argentine great Lionel Messi, who picked him out on the run. Neymar applied the exquisite control and finish in a single motion for the game-changing moment. It was that gulf in class between the two sides that ultimately provided the difference in the scoreline.

PSG will next get set to take on Maccabi Haifa on Wednesday in their second Champions League group match, while Brest remain in the bottom four relegation spots, but they will take heart and look for all three points against Ajaccio in a match that will have implications in the battle to avoid the drop in Ligue 1.

Leo Messi Man of the Match

Neymar's world-class finish will get the headlines, but Messi was pulling the strings when PSG had the upper hand in the match. Neymar has a league-leading eight goals, but Messi has a league-leading seven assists after dishing out his latest helper.

The Argentine has embraced this new role as facilitator dating back to last season when he finished with more assists (15) than goals (11). And he's good at it. Opponents have a hard time picking him up as he pops up in different spots, and he's always quicker with the inventive pass which he sees before everyone else.

Don't mistake his declining goal numbers with a declining impact on his team and its matches. The 35-year-old will not wow us by darting past an entire defense as in years past, but he has reinvented himself and opposing sides, including at the 2022 World Cup, will need to clamp down on him or risk being carved up.

Red flags after PSG's latest dip

It happened against Juventus in midweek and it happened once again vs. Brest. PSG oozes class for a period of the match and establishes its clear superiority. But then after breaking through with a goal or two, they pull back almost in admiration of their dominance.

That happened last season under Mauricio Pochettino, and new manager Christophe Galtier was supposed to give this team an edge to rid them of that tendency in 2022/23. Prior to the Brest match they scored three goals or more in six of their eight official matches, showing early signs that they would not be taking their foot off the pedal. But they've resorted to old habits.

Galtier did send a message with a triple substitution that involved Neymar and Kylian Mbappe coming out of the match, but that only came after the Brest penalty nearly equalized the match.

Kimpembe's issues, Fabian's debut

PSG played in a 3-4-3 formation and it was a surprise to many that Galtier chose to play all three of his attacking stars, giving Messi the full 90 minutes. Prematch reports indicated that Carlos Soler was set to replace Messi in the lineup to give the 35-year-old a breather. But that didn't happen and Soler never entered the match.

Sergio Ramos played on the right side of the three-man backline with Danilo Pereira in the middle. Presnel Kimpembe, who wore the captain's armband, had been fairly solid on the left side of that defensive trio, but he was surprised by Brest right wingback Noah Fadiga and committed the foul that led to the penalty. Kimpembe got a yellow card for that play, and should've seen a second yellow for a stoppage-time foul. The ref spared him, but after Kimpembe swatted away his hand, it should've been enough to get him sent off. Instead, he left the match injured, leaving his team which was out of subs to finish with 10 men.

Marquinhos and Nuno Mendes, two regular starters who got a break in this match, came on as late second-half subs. Meanwhile, midfielder Fabian Ruiz made his PSG debut in place of Marco Verratti. He was clean on the ball, but didn't make much of an impact in his first appearance. PSG were missing a hard runner in midfield who could grab a hold of the game. That's not how Ruiz or Vitinha play.

PSG vs Brest final score

  1H 2H Final
PSG 1 0 1
Brest 0 0 0

Goals:
PSG — Neymar (Lionel Messi) — 30th min.

PSG vs Brest live updates, highlights from Ligue 1

Final: PSG 1, Brest 0

Final: PSG hang on in the end and come away with the three points, which will be all that matters. Brest waited late to throw on another forward and they ultimately couldn't create a final dangerous chance after the penalty fail.

91st min.: Five minutes of stoppage time. And Presnel Kimpembe deserved a second yellow for a tackle along the sideline. He gets lucky the referee spares him. Forget the foul, Kimpembe should've gotten a yellow for slapping away the referee's hand.

But perhaps it's sporting justice that he has to leave the game anyway due to injury. Kimpembe goes down the tunnel, leaving PSG to close this out with 10 men.

87th min.: SUBS for PSG & Brest. Center-back Marquinhos is in for PSG's Vitinha. Irvin Cardona is on for Brest, adding another forward to the mix.

80th min.: Yellow card. It's shown to PSG's Nuno Mendes who commits a hard foul. The Brest bench wanted to see a red on that.

79th min.: Chance for Brest! It's a cross that deflects off an unsuspecting Slimani and Gigi Donnarumma has to dive low to his left in order to send the ball out for a corner. Brest are growing in confidence entering the final 10 minutes.

77th min.: SUBS PSG. With Brest applying increasing pressure and nearly equalizing, PSG makes a triple substitution: Pablo Sarabia (for Mbappe), Hugo Ekitike (for Neymar), and Nuno Mendes (for Juan Bernat).

72nd min.: SUBS Brest. Noah Fadiga leaves after earning the penalty in his first 70 minutes since returning from injury. Jere Uronen takes his place (Jean-Kevin Duverne takes over at right wingback with Uronen slotting in at left wingback). Mathias Pereira Lage is also in for ex-Norwich City man Pierre Lees-Melou.

71st min.: Penalty saved by Donnarumma! Islam Slimani's shot was read perfectly by the Italian 'keeper. Still 1-0.

69th min.: Penalty to Brest! Noah Fadiga with a run into the box and he gets in front of Presnel Kimpembe. The PSG captain gets his hands all over Fadiga before he falls to the ground. The referee has no doubt about it and points to the spot.

62nd min.: SUBS Brest & PSG. Center-back Achraf Dari and midfielder Hugo Magnetti for Christophe Herelle and Mahdi Camara. Like-for-like subs there. Meanwhile, PSG bring on debutant Fabian Ruiz to give Verratti a breather.

58th min.: Mbappe chance! He combines with Neymar on the give-and-go, but he scuffs his diagonal shot on the left side and it bounces harmlessly wide. You'd expect a better finish from Mbappe.

Meanwhile, Brest can't put anything serious together. PSG in cruise control.

50th min.: Messi hits the post! Kylian Mbappe with the cross from the left and Messi with a HEADER that bounced off the left post.

46th min.: The second half is underway. No subs on either side. Quick yellow card for Brest captain Chardonnet for pulling on Mbappe's arm and preventing a run.

Halftime: PSG 1, Brest 0

Halftime: PSG didn't have to exert themselves too much in that half and comfortably put themselves ahead. The class of their front three makes all the difference once again. You can watch that Messi pass to Neymar, and the Brazilian's control and shot over and over. Football at its finest.

You get the sense Brest could get another look at some point, but Brest's Islam Slimani is not looking too sharp. The second half will be about whether PSG's Kylian Mbappe gets his chance to pad his goal numbers. Also, how much more time does PSG manager Christophe Galtier go before he gives his starters a break with a Champions League match at Maccabi Haifa on Wednesday?

44th min.: PSG chance! Neymar intercepts and opts to feed Lionel Messi who charged into the box, but Brest 'keeper Marco Bizot makes the big stop. A minute later Mbappe scores, but he was clearly offside on his run in behind.

32nd min.: Neymar is the Ligue 1 MVP so far this season (eight goals in Ligue 1). That goal was his first against Brest, and it also put him at No. 4 on PSG's all-time scorers (110 goals). It was also Messi's 7th assist in seven appearances this campaign.

30th min.: Goal PSG! Neymar control and finish on the left side of the box. All in one movement. It looked like there may have been an offside, but the goal stands. It was Messi picking out Neymar with another sensational pass.

27th min.: Red card overturned by VAR! Herelle stays on the field because Neymar was ruled offside on the pass from Messi. Brest's Pierre Lees Melou gets a yellow for protests.

25th min.: Red card to Brest! Christophe Herelle scythes down Neymar who was breaking alone on goal and it's denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. So Brest are down to 10 men. Lionel Messi's nutmeg pass was exquisite.

20th min.: Messi with a chance. This shot was destined to tuck inside the right post, but it deflects off the foot of Mbappe and out of play.

17th min.: First shot on goal belongs to Brest! It's Franck Honorat with a blast parried by Gigi Donnarumma. PSG had earlier shots by Neymar (wide) and Mbappe (high), but nothing on target just yet.

10th min.: Brest chance! Cross from the right and a sliding Islam Slimani nearly gets to it. The match has been played in the Brest half, but the visitors are showing they can cause problems.

7th min.: Incredible defensive recovery run by Neymar near his own box to stop a Brest counter. The Brazilian has been transformed under Christophe Galtier.

5th min.: Measured start to this one. Sergio Ramos on the right side of the three-man backline, wins a corner after his dangerous cross was headed out. There were appeals for a hand ball on the ensuing corner, but replays showed it came off the Brest defender's face, not his hand.

1st min.: We have kickoff. PSG in white at home, Brest in their all-red kit.

5 mins from kickoff: Teams are on the field. We're minutes away from getting started.

20 mins from kickoff: It's raining in Paris. Here's the view behind Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot during warmups:

45 mins from kickoff: Here are the 22 players who will start the match:

60 mins from kickoff: Waiting on lineups ...

90 mins from kickoff: Galtier has already made it clear that one member of his star trio is expected to get some rest with media reports speculating it will be 35-year-old Lionel Messi:

PSG vs Brest lineups

Galtier has 21 players in his matchday squad, but he only makes two changes to the starting XI that beat Juventus in midweek with Juan Bernat playing left wingback over Nuno Mendes, and Danilo Pereira taking the place of Marquinhos.

The star attacking trio are all in the starting lineup, while Presnel Kimpembe will be wearing the captain's armband.

PSG starting lineup (3-4-3, right to left): 99-Gigi Donnarumma (GK) — 4-Sergio Ramos, 15-Danilo Pereira, 3-Presnel Kimpembe — 2-Achraf Hakimi, 6-Marco Verratti, 17-Vitinha, 14-Juan Bernat — 30-Lionel Messi, 7-Kylian Mbappe, 10-Neymar

PSG subs (10): 1-Keylor Navas (GK), 16-Sergio Rico (GK), 26-Nordi Mukiele, 5-Marquinhos, 25-Nuno Mendes, 8-Fabian Ruiz, 33-Warren Zaire-Emery, 44-Hugo Ekitike, 19-Pablo Sarabia, 28-Carlos Soler

Brest manager Michel Der Zakarian has tweaked his formation to a 4-2-3-1 in the last two matches and appears to be going with a 5-4-1 against PSG's attacking trident. Starting right-back Noah Fadiga is available again and back in the lineup, but forwards Steve Mounie (heel), starting striker Jeremy Le Douaron (groin), and the team's No. 10 Romain Del Castillo (hamstring) and are still out.

Stade Brestois starting lineup (5-4-1, right to left): 40-Marco Bizot (GK) — 99-Noah Fadiga, 23-Christophe Herelle, 5-Brendan Chardonnet, 3-Lilian Brassier, 2-Jean-Kevin Duverne — 20-Pierre Lees Melou, 7-Haris Belkebla, 45-Mahdi Camara, 9-Franck Honorat — 13-Islam Slimani

Stade Brestois subs (10): 1-Joaquin Blazquez (GK), 21-Jere Uronen, 4-Achraf Dari, 8-Hugo Magnetti, 31-Youssef Belaili, 97-Tairyk Arconte, 33-Axel Camblan, 14-Irvin Cardona, 29-Mathias Pereira Lage, 18-Karamoko Dembele

PSG vs Brest TV channel, live stream

  UK USA Canada Australia
Date Sat, Sept. 10 Sat, Sept. 10 Sat, Sept. 10 Sun, Sept. 11
Time 16:00 BST 11:00 ET 11:00 ET 01:00 AET
TV channel — beIN Sports beIN Sports beIN Sports 2
Streaming — fuboTV, beIN Connect fuboTV Canada, beIN Connect beIN Connect

UK: The match will not be televised or streamed in the UK.

USA: The match will be televised by beIN Sports, and that channel is streamed on fuboTV. 

Canada: beIN Sports will also carry the match in Canada, and fuboTV Canada also carries that channel.

Australia: Fans in Australia can also watch the match on beIN Sports, and a stream is available via beIN's Connect platform.

Simon Borg

Simon Borg Photo

Simon Borg is a senior editor at The Sporting News who has covered football/soccer for over a decade. A supporter of Italian club Parma Calcio from his years growing up in Europe, he was previously a long-time member of Major League Soccer's digital media team, as a multimedia content producer, on-air personality, and Editor-in-Chief. Based in New York City, Borg is multilingual and has covered the domestic and global scene for TSN since 2021.