Paris Saint-Germain extended their winning run in Ligue 1 to three matches on Saturday, defeating newly promoted Le Mans 3-1, though the performance did little to ease concerns about the depth of Luis Enrique's squad ahead of a packed European schedule.
With Ousmane Dembélé and Nuno Mendes rested, PSG fielded a side featuring summer signings Mika Godts, Maghnes Akliouche and Ferran Torres in attack, alongside Dro Fernández and Lucas Beraldo in midfield and a back line of Lucas Digne, Lucas Hernández and Illia Zabarnyi. The club spent more than €150m in the transfer window, but much of that outlay was aimed at bolstering squad depth rather than challenging the established starters for places.
Beraldo opened the scoring from the penalty spot midway through the first half, but Le Mans, managed by Patrick Videira, responded through Louis Mafouta, who finished smartly after a whipped cross. The visitors, who have impressed on a limited budget this season, made life difficult for a PSG back line that Luis Enrique chose to field rather than one forced upon him by injury.
With the scoreline still level at 1-1 after an hour, PSG turned to four of their more established performers. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Fabián Ruiz, Désiré Doué and Vitinha were introduced, and the change paid off almost instantly. Ruiz's long-range effort was spilled by the goalkeeper into the path of Kvaratskhelia, who tapped home just two minutes after coming on. Akliouche, the only attacking player spared from the substitutions, later added a third to secure the win and score his first goal for the club since his €50m move from Monaco.
Luis Enrique praised Le Mans after the match, acknowledging the difficulty his side faced before the introduction of more experienced players settled the contest. He described it as