Saint-Etienne 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain: Neymar injured as Di Maria and Marquinhos spare Pochettino’s blushes

Looking for a response after their defeat to Manchester City in midweek, not to mention the speculation over Mauricio Pochettino’s future, PSG fell flat for much of Sunday’s game.

But Angel Di Maria and Marquinhos came up with the goods late on, with Lionel Messi assisting all three of his side’s goals.

Marquinhos had earlier cancelled out Denis Bouanga’s opener, after Timothee Kolodziejczak was sent off for the struggling hosts.

However, PSG will now hold concern over Neymar, who had to be taken off on a stretcher with an apparent ankle injury between the visitors’ late strikes.

Neymar had a goal disallowed for offside before Kylian Mbappe squandered a great chance by drilling straight at home goalkeeper Etienne Green.

The visitors paid for that miss in the 23rd minute. On his long-awaited PSG debut, Sergio Ramos’ hesitation enabled Kolodziejczak to connect with Wahbi Khazri’s cross. Gianluigi Donnarumma was only able to parry out as far as Bouanga, whose first-time finish was allowed to stand after a VAR check for offside.

The hosts were pegged back on the cusp of half-time. Kolodziejczak lunged in on Mbappe around 30 yards from goal, with referee Jerome Brisard deeming the tackle worthy of a straight red. It immediately proved costly for Saint-Etienne – Marquinhos escaping his marker to head in from Messi’s free-kick.

Green stood tall once more in the 69th minute to deny Neymar, with Messi drilling wide on the rebound, but the latter fed Di Maria to decisively curl in a powerful effort with 11 minutes left.

Marquinhos headed in from Messi’s corner to put the result beyond doubt, yet Neymar’s injury had marred what was a difficult win for the Ligue 1 leaders.