Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 Lens: Marco Asensio grabs first PSG goal in Ligue 1 win, Kylian Mbappe nets rocket

Marco Asensio’s first goal for Paris Saint-Germain and a thumping Kylian Mbappe strike gave the Ligue 1 champions a 3-1 victory over Lens and their first win of the new season.

Mbappe returned to the PSG starting line-up and Ousmane Dembele made his full debut, while Asensio – the other of three changes made by Luis Enrique – broke the deadlock.

The Spaniard curled a left-footed shot round a defender and into the bottom corner in the 45th minute, finishing off a move Mbappe and Vitinha had started with crisp interplay.

Mbappe emphatically doubled the lead shortly after the interval, receiving a return pass and side-footing past Brice Samba with a combination of accuracy and power which left the goalkeeper helpless.

Dembele and Asensio both missed the target when presented with golden opportunities to grow the lead, but Mbappe did add a third for PSG late on via a twice-deflected shot. Morgan Guilavogui scored a deflected consolation goal for Lens in stoppage time.

Victory lifts PSG onto five points and, for now, into fourth place, two points adrift of leaders Monaco and Marseille. Lens – who last season were the Ligue 1 runners-up – have only one point from three games.

PSG’s season starts here. Back-to-back draws, both pretty drab, was a bad way for PSG’s season to start and even more so a bad way for a new manager’s tenure to start. But with the Mbappe circus distracting attention and weakening the side, it can be forgiven.

With Mbappe and Dembele starting for the first time today, this can be viewed as the real start of PSG’s season. It started well.

The club seem to think this is the real start too, parading their new manager and new signings before the Parc des Princes crowd pre-match – despite most of them playing at the venue two weeks ago.

Kylian Mbappe (PSG). His first goal was brilliant and his presence completely changes how teams can defend against PSG, opening up space for others. It’s no coincidence that with him in the side, even the likes of defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte suddenly look a lot better.

PSG: Donnarumma 6, Hakimi 6, Marquinhos 7, Skriniar 6, Hernandez 7, Zaire-Emery 7, Ugarte 7, Vitinha 6, Dembele 6, Asensio 7, Mbappe 8. Subs: Fabian 5, Danilo 6, Soler 5.

Lens: Samba 7, Frankowski 6, Gradit 5, Danso 5, Medina 5, Machado 5, Abdul Samed 6, Diouf 5, Thomasson 5, Fulgini 5, Sotoca 5. Subs: Le Cardinal 5, Spierings 4, Wahi 6, Guilavogui 6, Da Costa 5.

OFF THE LINE! 32′ – Dembele crosses from the right and finds an unmarked Mbappe at the back post, who acrobatically volleys, and Danso blocks on the line.

GOAL! PSG 1-0 LENS (ASENSIO) 24′ – Vitinha and Mbappe combine to start a PSG attack, which looks to be fizzling out, but then Asensio is given time on the ball around 20 yards out and curls a shot round Danso, into the corner.

GOAL! PSG 2-0 LENS (MBAPPE) 52′ – It’s lethal from PSG as Mbappe lays the ball off for Hernandez, who bursts forward then returns the favour, cutting back for Mbappe to emphatically side-foot past the goalkeeper.

BIG CHANCE! 76′ – Dembele is through on goal, coming in off the right, but slices his shot into the side netting.

GOAL! PSG 3-0 LENS (MBAPPE) 90′ – Mbappe adds the cherry on top of PSG’s cake, shooting at the end of a nice team move and scoring after that shot is twice deflected.

GOAL! PSG 3-1 LENS (GUILAVOGUI) 90+5′ – Guilavogui adds a consolation goal as his shot from a tight angle is deflected past Donnarumma.

• Mbappe’s goals were his 150th and 151st in Ligue 1 for PSG.
• In all competitions for PSG, Mbappe is up to 215 goals and 86 assists, so 301 goal contributions.
• PSG avoided opened a league season with three failures to win for the first time in more than a decade.