By Agencies

Copyright dawn

PARIS: Paris St-Germain delivered a controlled 2-0 victory over RC Lens at home in Ligue 1 on Sunday, with Bradley Barcola scoring both goals.

The reigning champions have made a flawless start to the campaign with four wins from four, already opening up a two-point lead over second-placed Lille.

At the Parc des Princes it was an even contest until the 15th minute, when Barcola broke the deadlock with a superb strike, curling the ball from outside the box into the far top corner.

While the hosts appeared in control, concern arose when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was forced off around the half-hour mark, limping as he was substituted with what seemed to be a calf injury.

The match threw up further injury headaches for coach Luis Enrique ahead of the start of PSG’s Champions League defence next week as Lee Kang-in and Lucas Beraldo also limped off.

The trio joined star attackers Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue on the treatment table, after the pair picked up knocks while on France duty last week.

“Unfortunately, Kvara was tackled in the first half and couldn’t continue. For Kang-in it doesn’t look too serious, but Beraldo seems to be worse off,” Luis Enrique told Bein Sports.

However, the Spaniard insisted that the club’s lengthening sick list did not constitute a crisis.

“It happens to everyone. It’s a bit of a difficult time for us because we have injured players. We have to wait for the (test) results,” he said, before adding that his charges have “the ability to adapt and respond as a team”.

Lens threatened an equaliser before the interval, creating several promising chances, but PSG went into the break with a slender one-goal advantage.

Six minutes after the restart, Barcola struck again, collecting the ball midway between the centre circle and the penalty area before driving a low, powerful shot into the bottom corner to double the hosts lead.

Despite both sides raising the intensity in the closing stages, neither could add to the score.

LILLE LATE SHOW

Earlier, 18-year-old Ethan Mbappe, brother of Kylian Mbappe, volleyed home eight minutes into injury time to give Lille a 2-1 home win over Toulouse despite the hosts being a goal down as the clock ticked past 90.

A penalty at the very start of injury time converted by Nabil Bentaleb had brought the hosts level before Mbappe lashed home a late winner.

Both goals came courtesy of late substitutes introduced by coach Bruno Genesio, after Toulouse were reduced to 10 men on 80 minutes.

Frank Magri opened the scoring for Toulouse early in the second period before Lille’s late show.

The last-gasp win provisionally took Lille to the top of the Ligue 1 table, on 10 points, before PSG won to knock them down to second.

Meanwhile, Olympique Lyonnais, the only other club to boast a 100 per cent record going into the weekend, fell 3-1 away to Rennes.

In strikingly similar fashion to what happened in Lille, the away side took a one-goal lead before being reduced to 10 and eventually succumbing to late goals.

Corentin Tolisso opened the scoring early for Lyon before Tyler Morton saw red on 75 minutes.

Anthony Rouault levelled five minutes later, before a 93rd-minute own-goal by Remy Descamps and a Mohamed Kader Meite strike in the fifth minute of injury time claimed the points for Rennes.

Elsewhere, Liam Rosenior’s youthful Strasbourg side grabbed a 1-0 win at home to Le Havre thanks to Joaquin Panichelli’s 92nd-minute spot-kick.

Paris FC claimed their second win of the campaign, holding out 2-1 at lowly Brest, while rock bottom Metz drew 1-1 with Angers.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2025