Neymar and Kylian Mbappe starred as Paris Saint-Germain returned to winning ways on the road in Ligue 1 with a tightly contested 3-2 victory at Bordeaux.
Lionel Messi was again absent through injury, though the other two stars of Mauricio Pochettino's deadly attacking trident combined to brilliant effect.
Neymar had not scored from open play in Ligue 1 since doing so against Lens in May, but ended that run with two sublime first-half strikes.
Mbappe – who had teed up Neymar's double – got in on the act midway through the second half to ensure late goals from Alberth Elis and M'Baye Niang were not enough for Bordeaux.
It was far from plain sailing for PSG at first, as Bordeaux had the better of the opening exchanges, regularly catching the visitors dawdling in their own half.
Yet Bordeaux were soon lamenting their failure to make PSG pay, with Neymar taking Mbappe's floated pass under his spell before drilling a wonderful finish beyond Benoit Costil.
Costil had to be at his best to prevent Mbappe making it 2-0, but could do little to prevent Neymar doubling PSG's tally before the break.
The combination with Mbappe again came to the fore, Neymar playing a slick one-two with the France star before sliding a cool effort into the bottom-left corner.
Mbappe looked set to go from provider to scorer early in the second half, only for Laurent Koscielny to make a fantastic last-ditch block.
He was not to be denied again, though, and he tucked home into a gaping goal after Ander Herrera's pass had set Georgino Wijnaldum away.
Elis' close-range finish gave Bordeaux hope, with substitute Niang then slotting in after a fantastic one-two with Jimmy Briand in stoppage time, but it was too little too late.
What does it mean? No Messi, no problem
Messi's niggling injury issues have prevented the superstar getting into full flow for PSG, at least in domestic football, but Neymar and Mbappe were more than enough to shrug aside Bordeaux.
With Nice not in action until Sunday, PSG sit clear at the top with 11 wins from 13 games. After a 2-0 defeat at Rennes and a 0-0 draw at Marseille, Saturday's result also saw the capital club avoid a run of three away games without scoring – a streak they last went on in 2010.
Neymar's happy hunting ground
Neymar has now scored seven goals against Bordeaux in Ligue 1, making them his favourite opponent in the competition.
Ahead of this much-needed performance, the 29-year-old had not scored in his previous five league matches, which was his longest drought since arriving at PSG in 2017.
More Girondins misery against PSG
Bordeaux have not won any of their last 13 Ligue 1 games against PSG (D4 L9). The Girondins have only had two longer runs without a win against a specific opponent in the top-flight: against Lyon between September 1999 and August 2006 (15) and against Reims between September 1978 and December 2020 (14).
What's next?
PSG welcome Nantes to the Parc des Princes after the international break on November 20, while Bordeaux visit Metz a day later.
Burnley end Leeds' unbeaten start in battle of promotion hopefuls
Leeds United suffered their first defeat of the Championship season as they were beaten 1-0 at home by fellow promotion hopefuls Burnley.
Daniel Farke’s side came into Saturday's encounter having won back-to-back matches against Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City, but their momentum was halted by their clinical visitors.
Burnley forward Luca Koleosho scored the only goal of the game the day before his 20th birthday.
Koleosho took advantage of a slip from Manor Solomon after 18 minutes, before sprinting 70 yards and drilling a shot past Leeds goalkeeper Ilan Meslier.
That proved to be enough to inflict on Leeds a third home league defeat in six matches going back to last season, despite the hosts applying plenty of pressure as they sought an equaliser.
Burnley's Bashir Humphreys was sent off eight minutes into stoppage time at the end of the match, but Leeds were unable to find a way through.
Elsewhere in Saturday's early Championship kick-offs, Luton Town claimed their first win since relegation from the Premier League.
Teden Mengi's fine early effort from the edge of the penalty area was enough to beat Millwall 1-0 away from home.
While Luton have ground to make up in the promotion race, Oxford United's surprise challenge continues on the back of their 100% home record.
That was maintained with a deserved 1-0 victory over Stoke City, with Idris El Mizouni netting the winner three minutes into the second half.
Wolmer's Boys blank Denham Town 2-0 to maintain positive start in Zone E
Wolmer’s Boys secured their second win in as many games when they topped Denham Town High 2-0 in their Zone E Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association/Digicel Manning Cup encounter at Bumper Hall on Friday.
Captain Daquan Duhaney and substitute Addon Daye made the points safe for Jerome Waite’s side, which now moves to six points, same as leaders Tivoli Gardens but with a slightly inferior goal difference.
St Mary’s College (one point), Edith Dalton James (one point), St Jago, and Denham Town, who are both without a point, complete the standings.
Though welcoming the win, Waite believes his Heroes Circle boys still have much to learn, particularly where their mental game is concerned. It is an area he is hoping to improve on as the season progresses.
“It’s a work in progress, and it’s also a learning process for them because we have seen a lot of weakness in that area, so that’s something I’ll have to spend time working on. But we’ll analyse the game, sit down and discuss what we could have done better, where we still need to improve, and then we see how best we can get some more work done,” Waite said.
His counterpart Marvin Tate believes his boys are giving their best under the circumstances, as their preparation has been hindered by violence.
“We hardly got any time on the field to train because players live in adjoining communities which are actually at war. We took time out for a week to camp and it’s actually bringing some fruit because we’ve seen an improvement in the team and going forward we’ll see more improvements,” Tate shared.
Friday’s Results
Denham Town 0, Wolmer’s Boys 2
Camperdown 1, Haile Selassie 2
Kingston Technical 2, Vauxhall 3
Dunoon 3, Clan Carthy 2
Meadowbrook 0, Penwood 5
Ardenne 0, Eltham 10
Saturday’s Games
Kingston College vs Cumberland @ Stadium East
Jamaica College vs Ascot @ Jamaica College
STATHS vs Calabar @ Boys’ Town
Excelsior vs Bridgeport @ Excelsior
Holy Trinity vs St Catherine @ Alpha
Papine vs St George’s College @ Papine
*All games are scheduled for 3:30pm
Ten Hag: 'Penalty was the turning point' in Southampton victory
Erik ten Hag believes Andre Onana's penalty save was the "turning point" as Manchester United got back to winning ways with a commanding 3-0 victory over 10-man Southampton.
The Red Devils arrived at St Mary's on a two-match losing streak and almost fell behind in the 33rd minute, but Onana guessed correctly to keep out Cameron Archer's tame spot-kick.
The visitors capitalised on their reprieve as goals from Matthijs de Ligt and Marcus Rashford put them 2-0 up at half-time, before Alejandro Garnacho wrapped up the points later on.
Ten Hag was pleased with his team's response and also saluted Rashford, who netted his first goal since March.
"The start was not easy," the United boss told BBC Match of the Day.
"I think the penalty was the turning point in the game and, not so far after, we scored and that was very important. From that moment on, the game was all ours."
On Rashford's goal, he added: "It's very important. We spoke before the game. It is huge for him, for every striker.
"When the season starts, you want to be on the scoring list. Now he has his first, I'm sure more will come."
Onana was also pleased to see Rashford back on the scoresheet.
"We had a tough season last year, and he was not at his best," he told TNT Sports. "But today, he showed he's a great player - one of the best in the world.
"That's football, that's life. It's now how you fall, it's about how many times you stand up again. I'm really happy for him. Hopefully, he will score many more for the team.
On bouncing back with a win, he added: "Every game when you lose is like it's the end of the world. You have to stay strong, stay together and keep fighting.
"It was very good to save that penalty. It was an important moment for us.
"The most important thing for us is victory. We had a great game and a clean sheet. Hopefully, we will continue playing like this."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
