Saint-Germain finally secures his first victory

Paris Saint-Germain, the defending champions and European titleholders, finally secured their first victory of the new Ligue 1 season, defeating host side Brest 1-0 in Matchday 4.

Under Spanish manager Luis Enrique, the team began their title defense with a 2-2 draw against Rennes and an identical result against Lille, before suffering a 2-1 home defeat to Monaco.

However, the emphatic 6-1 win over Slovakian visitors Slovan Bratislava earlier in the week, at the outset of their campaign to defend their continental crown, appears to have provided the psychological boost needed to secure their first league victory and set the stage for a strong performance in Sunday’s difficult away test against rivals Marseille.

Before the match, Brest honored their late coach Éric Roy, who passed away on June 17 from complications of pancreatic cancer while still holding the position, paving the way for Julien Laurey to take over as head coach. Roy’s team had not won in their last 35 meetings across all competitions against PSG (27 defeats and 8 draws), a streak dating back to a 3-1 league loss on January 26, 1985.

The Parisian club were the better side in the first half and deservedly took the lead with an early goal. New signing and World Cup champion Spanish forward Ferran Torres scored in the fifth minute with a shot from outside the box, following a pass from Ousmane Dembélé after a well-worked team move.

PSG then lost the services of their Moroccan star Achraf Hakimi due to injury, with Spanish midfielder Fabián Ruiz (39) replacing him.