Auxerre 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain: Barcola strike sends visitors back to Ligue 1 summit

Bradley Barcola was the matchwinner as Paris Saint-Germain returned to the top of Ligue 1 with a 1-0 win over Auxerre.

A rapid counter-attack in the 79th minute saw Ousmane Dembele play Barcola through on goal, but the winger found the back of the net to move PSG back above Lens, who face Marseille on Saturday.

PSG dominated the first half, but Auxerre goalkeeper Donovan Leon was in inspired form. He made a double save to deny Barcola in the second minute, before keeping out a header from Goncalo Ramos and close-range attempts from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ibrahim Mbaye.

Barcola went close for Luis Enrique’s side again after the break, driving forward with the ball before dragging his shot wide of the left post, while Danny Namaso struck narrowly over the bar at the other end.

The visitors then showed their strength in depth, bringing on Desire Doue and Dembele after the hour mark, and the latter made an immediate impact as he slid Barcola through on goal, but the winger failed to hit the target.

Doue then squandered a golden opportunity with 15 minutes to go after he could not sort his feet out in time to tap Barcola’s cross into an unguarded net, but it mattered little as Barcola finally got the better of Leon shortly after to clinch victory for PSG.

Three points in Auxerre!#AJAPSG I @Ligue1_ENG pic.twitter.com/nTqmIXKhwE

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) January 23, 2026

Data Debrief: Vitinha pulls the strings

Despite the best efforts of Leon, it was a deserved win for PSG. The visitors produced 1.93 expected goals (xG) from 16 shots to Auxerre’s 0.27 from eight attempts, none of which were on target.

Barcola was a constant threat throughout, registering the most shots in the match (five), but Vitinha also made a huge impact for Luis Enrique’s men. The midfielder created the most chances in the match (four), as well as the most touches (129), most passes (104) and most interceptions (four).

Meanwhile, aged 19 years and 321 days, Warren Zaire-Emery became the third-youngest player to reach 100 Ligue 1 appearances since Opta began collecting this data (1947-48), behind only Basile Boli (19 years, 38 days) and Richard Krawczyk (19 years, 250 days).