5 Takeaways from PSG’s narrow 1-0 win over Le Havre

Last night, Paris Saint-Germain secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Didier Digard's Le Havre at the Stade Océane. Bradley Barcola's ninth goal of the season was the difference in this game that saw Désiré Doué miss a late penalty.

Luis Enrique and his team now have a four-point advantage over Lens at the top of the league.

Here are the five key takeaways from PSG's short victory over 13th-placed Le Havre.

Five takeaways as PSG edged past Le Havre

1) Bradley Barcola finally back amongst the goals

Bradley Barcola notched a goal for the second successive game week, and this time it proved decisive, as the Frenchman seems to have rediscovered his scoring touch at a vital moment of the season. Much has been made of the inconsistency of Barcola’s finishing this season, with fans of PSG growing frustrated with the number of chances that the young winger was wasting. However, his recent upturn in form will inspire confidence, and PSG fans, as well as Luis Enrique, will hope that he can bring this goalscoring form into the business end of the season.

2)         PSG finally opening up a bigger gap atop the table

PSG for much of the season have been neck and neck with dark horses Lens, whose run this season has been no short of sensational. However, it seems as though now normal order has finally been restored atop the French football league table, as PSG have now pulled five points clear of the club from Calais (who have only taken one point from their last two games). While five points may not seem like an insurmountable lead, in the context of the French top flight, it would be a difficult one for anyone, let alone a side with limited depth like Lens, to overturn.

3)         A more dominant performance for the Parisians

While some PSG fans will be understandably peeved with the fact that their side only managed one goal against inferior opposition, it certainly was a dominant attacking performance for the most part from the Champions, who managed 22 shots to Le Havre’s eight, and also notched twice the number of shots on goal. Once again, PSG’s finishing was somewhat wasteful, but their creativity in their attacking combinations is undeniable, and looked particularly sharp yesterday.  Apart from the late missed penalty, PSG hit the woodwork twice, with Dembélé and Kvaratskhelia both doing so in the first half.

4)         A key clean sheet

PSG’s defence also looked considerably sharper than on previous occasions this season. Although Matvei Safonov was called upon to make a save from Issa Soumaré, overall PSG managed to convincingly limit the number of opportunities Le Havre had. While naysayers will dismiss the quality of the opposition in this case, the Parisians have, on previous occasions this season, occasionally struggled against so called ‘smaller’ Ligue 1 sides, and so will be very glad to secure a win with a clean sheet here.

5)         More penalty woes for PSG

PSG’s weakness from the penalty spot has been well documented over the last few months, with Desiré Doué now becoming the latest of PSG’s players to miss from twelve yards. Ousmane Dembélé and Vitinha have previously both missed penalties this season, and with Luis Enrique clearly not having chosen a consistent first choice penalty taker, it doesn’t seem as though the situation is improving. This is something that has to be urgently fixed before it costs PSG more dearly than it has done so far.