PSG 4-0 Dijon: 5 talking points as Kean and Mbappe light up the pitch | Ligue 1 2020-21

PSG bounced back from their midweek defeat to Manchester United with a strong performance on Saturday. A heavily-rotated side made short work of Dijon, thus going top of the Ligue 1 table with a 4-0 win.

Just three minutes into the game, Mitchel Bakker burst down the left byline and whipped in a dangerous cross for Moise Kean to excellently divert the ball into the net at the near post. Dijon didn't let their heads drop, and continued to attack PSG's defence.

Kean doubled PSG's lead on 23 minutes, after an excellent counter-attack involving Julian Draxler and Neymar ended with a tap in for the Italian youngster. Both PSG and Dijon spurned presentable chances but failed to add to the scoreline going into the break.

The second half was quite uneventful for the most part, until Kylian Mbappe came on as a late substitute. The Frenchman was put through by Neymar and struck a beautiful shot through the legs of the keeper from a narrow angle to make it 3-0.

A few minutes later, Neymar rolled a delicious diagonal to Pablo Sarabia, who then squared it for Kylian Mbappe to tap in and make it 4-0 in the 88th minute.

Here are five major talking points from the game:

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#5 Neymar growing into the leadership role at PSG

PSG lost the duo of Thiago Silva and Edinson Cavani this summer. While their impact on the pitch was diminishing, their presence in the dressing room was still huge. Increasingly, it looks as though Neymar has stepped into that leadership vacuum, even if Marquinhos wore the armband.

The Brazilian looked every inch PSG's captain tonight. The streak of selfishness that was a trademark of his game in years gone by was all-but non-existent.

Recognizing that Moise Kean was a player in need of a confidence boost, Neymar played most of the game with a view to ensuring the Italian youngster scored. He ought to have had three assists, not one.

Even as Dijon attempted to kick Neymar as the game wore on, the Brazilian kept his cool, with only a single moment of frustration that he was quick to put aside.

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#4 Dijon are a breath of fresh air, if also naive

Contrary to most pre-match expectations, Stephane Jobard set up his team to attack, which surprised PSG's defenders a bit. Mama Balde and Dina Ebimbe had plenty of presentable chances when the deficit was just a solitary goal.

Balde, in particular, ought to have scored after Marquinhos made a terrible error and gifted him the ball in front of goal with a wayward pass.

Dijon were fairly impressive going forward in the first half, troubling PSG with some direct running. They opted to rein themselves in the second half, but it was moot once Kylian Mbappe came on.

Jobard's men were bottom of the table coming into this game and if he persists with the open, attacking set-up he uses, it's unlikely Dijon will survive this season. While it's great to see minnows taking the game to behemoths like PSG, it's quite naive and Dijon will suffer for it.

#3 Moise Kean rediscovers his mojo at PSG

PSG's recruitment of Moise Kean on loan from Everton raised plenty of eyebrows. Especially as the forward had a miserable time of it in the Premier League and fell out of favour with Carlo Ancelotti.

However, the player that broke through for Juventus and set tongues wagging in Serie A still exists, and looked a lot like the version of Kean that turned out for the Bianconeri tonight.

2 - Moise Kean has scored PSG's fastest goal in Ligue 1 since Pablo Sarabia on February 29th against... Dijon.The Italian has scored as many goals during the first half tonight as in his 29 games with Everton in Premier League 2019/20 (2). Guide. #PSGDFCO pic.twitter.com/DOVcqY53Tb

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) October 24, 2020

The first goal was classic centre-forward play. An incisive run to the near post, getting ahead of his marker and diverting the ball into the net at exactly the right angle.

He also displayed his knack for being in the right place at the right time for his second goal, tapping the ball into an empty net after unselfish play from Neymar.

Kean is still raw though, and missed some presentable chances as the game went on. However, he's begun life in Paris very well.

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#2 Tuchel's back-up options shine

There was always going to be an element of risk when Thomas Tuchel decided to rotate his line-up for this game. Given PSG's lengthy injury list, some may say it was enforced. However, PSG have a deep squad, despite criticism of their recruitment by their head coach.

Sergio Rico was excellent in goal, while PSG's rejigged backline eventually settled into the match after a few nervy moments early on. Julian Draxler reminded us of his quality with some excellent passing, especially to set up the counter-attack that resulted in PSG's second goal.

Tuchel will have to depend on these options quite a bit, as the injuries will keep coming in a packed fixture schedule. Performances like these will only serve to earn his trust, which ought to be good for all concerned.

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#1 Kylian Mbappe's cameo simply produced more questions

There's no doubting Kylian Mbappe's quality. The Frenchman tormented the Dijon defence as soon as he came on to replace Moise Kean in the 73rd minute. Mbappe was full of direct running as ever, with an absolutely powerful finish for his opening goal. He also positioned himself well for his second, which was a routine tap in.

Yet, this sort of performance has been missing in the big games of late. It seems churlish to be critical of a World Cup winner, especially after this performance, but it's still apropos. Mbappe is only 21 years old and considered one of the world's best players, yet has failed in many big games for PSG.

The Frenchman was kept quiet by Axel Tuanzebe against Manchester United, as an example. He has to produce moments of magic on tough nights, not against Dijon while leading comfortably. PSG's Champions League group is tricky, and we'll get the answer from Mbappe one way or another.