Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique gambled with a much-changed starting lineup and was almost made to pay as the Ligue 1 champions rode their luck to claim a 3-1 victory at RC Strasbourg on Saturday.
Gio Reyna put the home side ahead in the first half and they might have added to that tally but for the brilliance of PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov.
Ousmane Dembele missed a penalty for the visitors in the second half but minutes later they were level through Ilya Zabarnyi before Dembele scored five minutes from the end of the 90 and Desire Doue netted a third in added time.
The win moves PSG top of the table on goals scored with 14 points from seven games, ahead of Lille, who drew 1-1 at home to Brest, and AS Monaco before they visit Lorient on Sunday.
Luis Enrique made eight changes to his team from the midweek Champions League win at Manchester City with only Safonov, Warren Zaïre-Emery and Maghnes Akliouche selected again.
Safonov was superb as he thwarted Strasbourg several times before PSG earned the points late on.
They finished the game with 10 men as defender Nuno Mendes was withdrawn with no substitutions remaining.
"He felt a little thing (on his thigh) and we decided to play with one less player so as not to take risks," Luis Enrique told reporters.
DEMBELE PENALTY MISS
Dembele missed a second-half penalty with the score at 1-0 to Strasbourg, but put that disappointment behind him to net one goal, assist another and play a part in the third.
"I told him if you play 25 minutes and give an assist and score a goal, you don't need to play more. That's enough," Luis Enrique said.
Dembele's penalty miss meant PSG have scored one of their four spot-kicks this season, a poor record from 12 yards.
"He was angry because he missed the penalty. It's true, we have a statistic (from penalties) that is a little difficult to take," Luis Enrique added.
"We have many players who can shoot but it is true that we lack a specialist (penalty-taker)."
Lille were held by Brest as 40-year-old Olivier Giroud equalised for the hosts from the penalty spot after 64 minutes.
Brest took an early lead through Mama Balde and climb to eighth on nine points.
Lens rose to seventh on 10 points after a 3-1 win at second-bottom Troyes. They took the lead through an Adrien Monfray own goal after 13 minutes before Odsonne Edouard and Ruben Aguilar secured the points after Timothe Nkada equalised for the hosts.
— Reuters
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