Kvaratskhelia Brace Powers PSG Past Nantes as Luis Enrique Opens Four-Point Gap

Paris Saint-Germain beat Nantes 3-0 at Parc des Princes on Wednesday night, moving Luis Enrique’s club four points clear of Lens in Ligue 1 and reinforcing their grip on the title race.

The champions seized control early. VAR confirmed a spot-kick in the 11th minute, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia converted the penalty two minutes later, and from there the hosts never let Luís Castro’s 5-3-2 breathe. Nantes thought they had a route back when Louis Leroux found the net in the 24th minute, only for another intervention to wipe it away.

PSG responded with authority. Warren Zaïre-Emery collected a yellow card for a foul in the 35th minute, yet his aggression set the tone down the left. Désiré Doué doubled the lead in the 37th minute, arriving to finish after Achraf Hakimi slid him in. It was the clearest illustration of Enrique’s 4-3-3 stretching Nantes across the width of the pitch, with the wing-backs pinned back and the midfield unable to compress the space.

The second half brought no respite for the visitors. Frédéric Guilbert’s booking in the 46th minute summed up their discomfort, and Ousmane Dembélé carved them open again four minutes later, assisting Kvaratskhelia for a third goal in the 50th minute. With the game secure Enrique rotated heavily at the hour: Fabián Ruiz, Senny Mayulu, and Lucas Hernandez came on in the 60th minute; Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye followed in the 65th minute as Dembélé and Kvaratskhelia earned an early exit. Nantes responded with their own double change in the 65th minute, introducing Ignatius Ganago and Dehmaine Tabibou, but the pattern never shifted.

Enrique’s structure held. Marquinhos and Ilya Zabarnyi, despite the latter’s yellow card in the 41st minute, restricted Nantes to speculative phases and trusted Matvey Safonov, who made four saves to preserve the clean sheet. Lucas Beraldo stepped into midfield to dictate tempo, while Pedro Fernández and João Neves recycled possession relentlessly before Neves made way. Doué’s ability to break the lines justified his 90 minutes, and Dembélé’s creativity demanded Nantes respect both flanks, opening the inside channel that Kvaratskhelia exploited.

Castro’s problem remains blunt: Nantes defended in numbers but still conceded 14 shots, 10 of them inside the box, and their counterattacking pair of Mostafa Mohamed and Matthis Abline failed to isolate PSG’s centre-backs. Late changes, including Bahmed Deuff in the 73rd minute and Chidozie Awaziem in the 79th minute, merely kept the scoreline respectable.

PSG are now on 66 points, widening their cushion at the summit while Lens stay in pursuit, fresh from their own win as covered here: Abdulhamid shines as Lens crush Toulouse 4-1 to punch Paris ticket. Enrique will welcome the breathing space before the next domestic hurdle and the looming Champions League run-in. Nantes, stuck on 20 points in 17th place, must find victories quickly to avoid being dragged under; the coming weeks will define whether Castro can keep them up.

Statistics:

• Shots on goal: Paris Saint-Germain 6, Nantes 4
• Total shots: Paris Saint-Germain 14, Nantes 11
• Possession: Paris Saint-Germain 70 percent, Nantes 30 percent
• Expected goals: Paris Saint-Germain 2.15, Nantes 0.87
• Passes completed: Paris Saint-Germain 664 of 734, Nantes 241 of 302
• Goalkeeper saves: Matvey Safonov 4, Anthony Lopes 3