Luis Enrique fielded a heavily rotated side from the one that faced Aston Villa on Tuesday, but that doesn’t matter too much when Desire Doue is one of those coming in.
The 19-year-old proved why just eight minutes in when he collected Bradley Barcola’s pass, showed quick feet in the box, and applied a clinical finish to open the scoring.
PSG controlled possession despite Le Havre pressing well at times, and more dazzling footwork from Doue resulted in Senny Mayulu hitting a shot that was palmed behind.
Goncalo Ramos also tested Mathieu Gorgelin from a tight angle, before Ibrahim Mbaye intercepted Abdoulaye Toure’s lax pass on the edge of Les Ciel et Marine’s box, but saw his tame shot routinely saved.
There was concern for the hosts when Josue Casimir was released, but Matvey Safonov cut out his attempted ball across the box, and Mbaye hit a deflected strike that was saved shortly after.
Gorgelin then denied Doue and Ramos in quick succession, and also impressively stopped another attempt from Doue and then Barcola to keep Le Havre’s deficit at one goal heading into the break.
There was nothing the goalkeeper or his teammates could do to stop PSG five minutes after the restart, though, as beautiful link-up play from the hosts culminated in Mayulu dinking the ball across for Ramos to turn it home.
Toure sent a wild effort harmlessly over the crossbar at the other end, but Le Havre still got a goal back on the hour mark when Ahmed Hassan nodded a corner back for Issa Soumare to head it in.
The visitors were visibly buoyed by their goal, but Junior Mwanga fired off-target, and Rassoul Ndiaye’s header narrowly evaded the top corner.
With the added bonus of Presnel Kimpembe getting his first minutes at the Parc des Princes since February, PSG ultimately did enough to earn the three points needed to overtake their tally from the whole of last season, while also maintaining their hopes of becoming the first-ever team to navigate a Ligue 1 campaign unbeaten.
Le Havre’s more humble aim is to stay in the league, and they will nervously watch the Sunday matches of those around them while occupying the relegation play-off place.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Desire Doue (Paris Saint-Germain)
