Ander Herrera (left) celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Brest and Paris Saint Germain at Stade Francis Le-Ble on August 20, 2021 in Brest, France.

BREST - With Messi and Neymar not judged ready for this week's game by Mauricio Pochettino, Mbappé scored his first of the season with what was just his fourth headed goal in Ligue 1, as Paris Saint-Germain defeat Brest on Friday.

Mbappé put PSG 2-0 up, with Ander Herrera having opened the scoring, but Keylor Navas' error handed Brest a reprieve.

Idrissa Gana Gueye's long-range wonder strike seemed to have settled the contest, though it was ultimately substitute Ángel Di María who had to wrap up the points after Steve Mounié had pulled another one back.

Mbappé's six attempts across the opening two Ligue 1 games failed to yield reward and the France star might have done better in the fourth minute, with his close-range shot saved well by Marco Bizot, though an expected goals (xG) figure of 0.065 suggested it was a difficult chance.

With Marco Verratti also going close, PSG's dominance told when Herrera tried his luck with a volley which crept in under Bizot, who did better to stop Achraf Hakimi doubling PSG's tally.

Little blame could be attached to Bizot soon after, however, with Mbappé charging in to get his head on a loose ball and divert a looping effort into the right-hand corner.

Navas had to hold his hands up at the other end before half-time, with PSG's shot-stopper failing to prevent Franck Honorat, the benefactor of Romain Faivre's exquisite flick, scoring despite getting a hand on the shot.

PSG's frustrations grew as they looked to add to their lead, yet Bizot's vulnerability from long shots came to the fore again as Gueye's dipping effort from 35-yards out evaded his grasp.

Navas atoned for his earlier mistake by denying Ronaël Pierre-Gabriel, though Mounié did set up a grandstand finish with a cool 85th-minute finish.

There would be no fairytale comeback, however, with Di María, just nine minutes into his return, lobbing Bizot on the break to seal the points.