Lucky PSG survive Nantes scare in Ligue 1 opener

Paris Saint-Germain began their Ligue 1 title defence with a narrow 1-0 win over Nantes on Sunday night, thanks to a deflected strike from Vitinha.

The Portuguese midfielder broke the deadlock in the 67th minute after his effort ricocheted off Nigerian defender Chidozie Awaziem, wrong-footing goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.

It was far from vintage PSG. Coach Luis Enrique, still juggling fatigue after last week’s UEFA Super Cup shootout win over Tottenham, made seven changes to his line-up. The European champions, who only resumed pre-season training on August 6 after going all the way to the Club World Cup final in the U.S., are clearly still searching for rhythm.

Yet even in second gear, they had enough to squeeze past a Nantes side making their first outing under new Portuguese boss Luis Castro.

New signing Illia Zabarnyi slotted straight into defence on his debut following his €66m move from Bournemouth, while ex-Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier immediately replaced Gianluigi Donnarumma as Enrique’s No.1.

Big names like Ousmane Dembélé, Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, Desire Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia started on the bench, but it was their introduction that sparked the breakthrough. Dembélé’s short corner found Mendes, whose cut-back teed up Vitinha for the decisive strike.

Gonçalo Ramos rattled the bar earlier and later saw a goal ruled out for offside, while Bradley Barcola went close late on.

The champions now turn their attention to Angers on Friday at the Parc des Princes, as Enrique looks to sharpen his squad for tougher tests ahead.

Elsewhere in Ligue 1 on Sunday, veteran striker Olivier Giroud opened his Lille account in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Brest, while Angers edged Paris FC 1-0 despite going down to 10 men. Strasbourg sealed a 1-0 win at Metz courtesy of Argentine recruit Joaquin Panichelli, and Auxerre beat Lorient 1-0.

Monaco, who dispatched Le Havre 3-1 on Saturday, sit top of the table after the opening round of fixtures.