Paris Saint-Germain opened their Ligue 1 campaign with a narrow 1-0 win away to Nantes, but they were made to work hard for the three points.
Luis Enrique’s side dominated possession, but a resolute Nantes defence frustrated the champions in a cagey first half.
Goncalo Ramos struck the crossbar, while Kang-In Lee and Bradley Barcola supplied dangerous crosses, but PSG struggled to find the breakthrough.
At the other end, Mostafa Mohamed and Yassine Benhattab threatened sporadically on the counter, though Gianluca Chevalier remained largely untested.
Enrique turned to his bench early in the second half, introducing Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi in search of greater attacking impetus.
The changes paid off on 67 minutes when Mendes found Vitinha on the edge of the box. The midfielder’s effort took a wicked deflection off Chidozie Awaziem, wrong-footing Alban Lafont and nestling in the bottom corner.
PSG thought they had doubled their lead ten minutes later as Ramos finished coolly from Doue’s pass, but VAR ruled him narrowly offside.
The visitors continued to press, with Barcola flashing a shot inches wide, but Nantes rallied late on, substitute Tabibou firing over in stoppage time as they searched desperately for an equaliser.
The statistics reflected PSG’s control, boasting 1.33 expected goals compared to Nantes’ 0.1, yet Enrique’s men were forced to grind out victory.
Nantes travel to Strasbourg next Sunday, while PSG host Angers on Friday, aiming to build on their winning start.
