Ferran Torres Leads PSG to Victory Over Brest
Paris Saint-Germain finally found a way to steady themselves at home, and once again it was Ferran Torres who set the tone.
Five minutes. That was all he needed.
A sharp exchange between Joao Neves and Ousmane Dembele sliced Brest open, Torres timing his run perfectly before sliding a low finish past the goalkeeper. One touch to set, one to score, and PSG had the early lead they’ve been craving.
Six goals in five games. The numbers are brutal, simple, and exactly what this team has been missing from its number nine.
On the touchline, Luis Enrique liked what he saw from his front line, even if the rest of the performance left him restless. He highlighted the understanding between Torres and Dembele, but his verdict on the overall display was clear: three points, yes, but not enough control, not enough authority without the ball. Brest exposed that more than once.
Dembele, though, looks like a player enjoying his football again. After the win, he lingered on the pitch, then spoke about a partnership years in the making. He knows Torres well, knows his movements, knows when and where to find him.
“I played with him for a year and a half at Barcelona. He's a fantastic player and a brilliant number nine. He's always right there whenever you need him,” Dembele said, the familiarity obvious in the way they now combine in Parisian colours.
The Frenchman also opened a small window into his own journey. No talk of destiny, no myth-making. Just graft.
He described himself as never being “the chosen one”, the player who had to grind, stay quiet, work from “the back of the class” and let performances, not words, do the talking. Last season brought a reward. This one, he insisted, will be approached with the same calm, the same relentlessness. “This year? We'll see, I'm relaxed. Throughout my entire career, I never said a word. I just worked.”
PSG needed that work ethic, because the night was far from straightforward.
The mood darkened before half-time when Achraf Hakimi pulled up with a muscle problem and had to leave the field after just 38 minutes, Fabian Ruiz coming on in his place. It was a worrying sight for a side that leans heavily on Hakimi’s energy and width.
Brest sensed the opening and grew bolder after the break. The equaliser felt close.
Kamory Doumbia rattled the post with one effort, then forced Matvey Safonov into action with a fierce header that looked destined for the net. Each time, PSG wobbled. Each time, Brest believed a little more.
The hosts thought they had killed the game 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’s roar turned into a groan in seconds. The margin for error remained razor-thin.
So it came down to Safonov.
With the clock ticking into the 88th minute and nerves fraying, Pathe Mboup burst through, eyeing a point that would have felt fully deserved for Brest. Safonov stood tall, read it, and made the decisive save that protected PSG’s fragile lead and sealed a much-needed win.
The scoreline says the champions are back on track. The performance says there is still a long road ahead. The question now is whether this growing connection between Torres and Dembele, and a keeper in Safonov who delivers in the tightest moments, can drag PSG to the level their manager keeps demanding.
