Ferran Torres Shines as PSG Beats Brest
Paris Saint-Germain finally found some breathing space at home, and once again it was Ferran Torres who opened the door.
Five minutes. That was all he needed on Sunday. One sharp exchange between Joao Neves and Ousmane Dembele sliced through the Brest back line, and Torres did the rest, gliding onto the return and sliding a low finish past the goalkeeper with the calm of a striker who knows exactly where the net is.
Six goals in five games for his new club. The numbers are already starting to sound like a statement.
Luis Enrique could see the chemistry growing in front of him. “I really liked the connection between Ferran Torres and Ousmane Dembele,” he said, pleased with the cutting edge but far less satisfied with everything around it. The win stopped the domestic stutter, but it did not hide the flaws.
“We got the three points so we're happy, but we still need to improve,” he warned. When PSG lost the ball, Brest found space and confidence. “At times when we didn't have the ball, the opposition caused us problems. We need to play with more authority.” The message was clear: result good, control not nearly good enough.
Dembele steps out of the shadows
If Torres grabbed the headline with the early goal, Dembele quietly owned the sub-plot. The winger spoke afterwards like a player who has finally found his place and his partner.
“I played with him for a year and a half at Barcelona,” Dembele said of Torres. “He's a fantastic player and a brilliant number nine. He's always right there whenever you need him.” On the pitch, that understanding showed in the speed and certainty of their combinations. Off it, there was a hint of pride in seeing an old teammate thriving alongside him again.
Dembele then turned the spotlight on his own journey, and it sounded nothing like the story usually told about him. “Like I said before, I was never ‘the chosen one’,” he insisted. “I've had to work incredibly hard. Last year, I was rewarded for it. This year? We'll see, I'm relaxed. I've always been at the back of the class, working hard. Throughout my entire career, I never said a word. I just worked.”
On a night when PSG needed resilience as much as flair, that attitude mattered.
Hakimi blow and Brest’s late surge
Not everything went PSG’s way. The first major jolt came after 38 minutes, when Achraf Hakimi pulled up with a muscle issue and had to come off, Fabian Ruiz thrown on earlier than planned. The change robbed PSG of one of their main outlets on the right and shifted the rhythm of the game.
Brest sensed it. They grew bolder after the break and turned the final half-hour into a test of PSG’s nerve. Kamory Doumbia came closest, first rattling the post with a fierce effort, then climbing high to power a header that seemed destined for the corner. Matvey Safonov read it, sprang across and clawed it away, one of several interventions that underlined his importance.
PSG thought they had killed the contest when pressure forced Bradley Locko into turning the ball into his own net, only for a foul by Warren Zaire-Emery in the build-up to wipe the goal out. The stadium groaned, Brest took heart, and the tension spiked again.
It took Safonov one more time to keep the points in Paris. In the 88th minute, Pathe Mboup broke through and struck cleanly, eyes lighting up at the chance to steal a draw. Safonov stood firm, made the decisive stop, and with it preserved both the win and the sense that PSG might finally be edging out of their early-season turbulence.
The result eases the pressure. The performance, and Hakimi’s injury, ensure the questions keep coming.
