Paris Saint-Germain extended their flawless start to the Ligue 1 season with a composed 2-0 victory over Lens on Sunday, thanks to a superb double from Bradley Barcola that underlined the champions’ early dominance.
Luis Enrique’s men remain top of the table, two points ahead of Lille, after producing another display that highlighted their squad depth and attacking power.
This time it was Barcola who rose to the occasion, firing home two spectacular efforts from distance to seal PSG’s fourth successive league win.
With Wednesday’s Champions League opener against Atalanta in mind, Enrique opted to rotate heavily, leaving Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves and Fabián Ruiz on the bench.
Lucas Hernández, Warren Zaïre-Emery and Kang-in Lee stepped in, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Gonçalo Ramos replaced injured pair Désiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé. The changes made little difference to the Parisians’ rhythm.
Kvaratskhelia’s night was cut short after just 30 minutes due to a calf problem, forcing Enrique to introduce Ibrahim Mbaye. By then, however, PSG were already in control, with Barcola delivering a stunning opener.
Collecting Vitinha’s neat pass on the edge of the area, the forward curled a right-footed strike into the top corner to break Lens’ resistance.
The visitors, who set up conservatively, offered little threat apart from a first-half free kick from Florian Thauvin that Lucas Chevalier dealt with comfortably.
Barcola added his second after the break, once again teed up by Vitinha. This time he opted for precision over power, drilling a low shot beyond Robin Risser and effectively putting the contest out of reach.
From there, PSG managed proceedings with ease, closing out the win without alarm. The champions remain perfect in the league and head into Europe brimming with confidence, driven by the sparkling form of Barcola.
