PSG 4-0 Dijon: 5 talking points as Kean and Mbappe light up the pitch | Ligue 1 2020-21
PSG bounced back from their midweek defeat to Manchester United with a strong performance on Saturday. A heavily-rotated side made short work of Dijon, thus going top of the Ligue 1 table with a 4-0 win.
Just three minutes into the game, Mitchel Bakker burst down the left byline and whipped in a dangerous cross for Moise Kean to excellently divert the ball into the net at the near post. Dijon didn't let their heads drop, and continued to attack PSG's defence.
Kean doubled PSG's lead on 23 minutes, after an excellent counter-attack involving Julian Draxler and Neymar ended with a tap in for the Italian youngster. Both PSG and Dijon spurned presentable chances but failed to add to the scoreline going into the break.
The second half was quite uneventful for the most part, until Kylian Mbappe came on as a late substitute. The Frenchman was put through by Neymar and struck a beautiful shot through the legs of the keeper from a narrow angle to make it 3-0.
A few minutes later, Neymar rolled a delicious diagonal to Pablo Sarabia, who then squared it for Kylian Mbappe to tap in and make it 4-0 in the 88th minute.
Here are five major talking points from the game:
#5 Neymar growing into the leadership role at PSG
PSG lost the duo of Thiago Silva and Edinson Cavani this summer. While their impact on the pitch was diminishing, their presence in the dressing room was still huge. Increasingly, it looks as though Neymar has stepped into that leadership vacuum, even if Marquinhos wore the armband.
The Brazilian looked every inch PSG's captain tonight. The streak of selfishness that was a trademark of his game in years gone by was all-but non-existent.
Recognizing that Moise Kean was a player in need of a confidence boost, Neymar played most of the game with a view to ensuring the Italian youngster scored. He ought to have had three assists, not one.
Even as Dijon attempted to kick Neymar as the game wore on, the Brazilian kept his cool, with only a single moment of frustration that he was quick to put aside.
#4 Dijon are a breath of fresh air, if also naive
Contrary to most pre-match expectations, Stephane Jobard set up his team to attack, which surprised PSG's defenders a bit. Mama Balde and Dina Ebimbe had plenty of presentable chances when the deficit was just a solitary goal.
Balde, in particular, ought to have scored after Marquinhos made a terrible error and gifted him the ball in front of goal with a wayward pass.
Dijon were fairly impressive going forward in the first half, troubling PSG with some direct running. They opted to rein themselves in the second half, but it was moot once Kylian Mbappe came on.
Jobard's men were bottom of the table coming into this game and if he persists with the open, attacking set-up he uses, it's unlikely Dijon will survive this season. While it's great to see minnows taking the game to behemoths like PSG, it's quite naive and Dijon will suffer for it.