Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain v Brest - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - September 14, 2024 Paris St Germain's Ousmane Dembele and Joao Neves celebrate after Fabian Ruiz scores their second goal REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
PARIS (Reuters) -Paris St Germain moved back to the top of Ligue 1 with a 3-1 home win over Brest thanks to an Ousmane Dembele double and Fabian Ruiz's brilliant strike on Saturday.
Fabian and Dembele scored in an 80-second spell late in the second half to help reigning champions PSG reach a perfect 12 points from four games, two clear of Olympique de Marseille and AS Monaco, who both won earlier on Saturday.
"Brest are a good team, with some very good players. It's always difficult against them. It's a good feeling to win in front of our fans," PSG coach Luis Enrique told DAZN.
"We try this every day and it's a pleasure to watch my team. At halftime I told them they were playing well, that they shouldn't look at the score. I told them to keep going."
Romain Del Castillo had put Brest in front with a penalty just before the half hour mark after a foul by Nuno Mendes on Ludovic Ajorque.
PSG equalised in the 42nd minute with a header from the unmarked Dembele off Marco Asensio's pinpoint cross before Fabian put the hosts ahead with a superb long-range effort in the 73rd.
Dembele sealed the points seconds later by scoring his second after pouncing on a loose ball following a counter-attack.
"I hope I can play some good games, be consistent and help PSG win," the 27-year-old Dembele said.
"It was important to win because the other (title hopefuls)won. We had to be leaders at the end of the day and prepare well for the Champions League. Now we have eight exciting matches ahead of us."
The capital side will aim to extend their winning run into the Champions League when they host Girona on Wednesday in their league phase opener.
Last season's surprise Ligue 1 package Brest play their first ever Champions League game on Thursday at home to Sturm Graz.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Ken Ferris)
