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Ousmane Dembele scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to beat Brest 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Saturday, continuing their perfect start to the French season and maintaining their place at the top of the table ahead of Marseille and Monaco.

Brest, preparing for their Champions League debut next week, took the lead at the Parc des Princes when Romain Del Castillo converted a penalty after half an hour.

However, just before half-time, Dembele headed in a Marco Asensio cross to level the scores for PSG. Two goals in two minutes in the second half sealed their fourth win in four games of the season.

Fabian Ruiz had just scored twice in Spain’s 4-1 win in Switzerland last week when he converted a beautiful shot in the 73rd minute to put PSG ahead. A minute later, Dembele made it 3-1 after a Randal Kolo Muani effort was denied.

Luis Enrique’s side have now scored a total of 16 goals in four Ligue 1 games since Kylian Mbappe left for Real Madrid during the season break and are in good form ahead of their Champions League opener against Girona on Wednesday.

“As a coach, the goal is always to improve,” said Luis Enrique. “This season so far is the continuation of what we saw at the end of last season.”

Brest, meanwhile, is struggling to build on last season’s surprising third-place finish and has lost three of four games so far ahead of its European debut against Sturm Graz.

PSG are two points ahead of Marseille and Monaco, both of whom recorded impressive victories on Saturday.

Marseille continued their impressive form under new coach Roberto De Zerbi, beating Nice 2-0 in the Mediterranean derby despite finishing the game with just ten men.

Mason Greenwood was unable to extend his remarkable tally of five goals in his first three games in French football, but new signing Neal Maupay scored on his home debut before a brilliant strike from Luis Henrique sealed the win.

Marseille had Canadian defender Derek Cornelius sent off shortly before the end, but managed to hold on to the win and now has ten points from four games.

“We had an almost perfect start. I wasn’t too happy with our performance today, but football is not just about quality. It’s also about character and blood, and in that respect we were outstanding,” said De Zerbi.

More than 65,000 spectators watched the match at the Vélodrome and there was a festive atmosphere as Marseille wore a collector’s edition shirt to mark its 125th anniversary and fans set off fireworks towards the end of the match, briefly halting play.

“In such passionate cities you need a strong connection between fans and players, otherwise you can’t do anything,” said De Zerbi when asked about the exuberant atmosphere.

These fans will begin to believe that their team can put pressure on PSG in the title race.

“Just as the fans have dreams, so do we, but there is also reality. We have made so many changes in a short space of time and there is still a huge amount of room for improvement,” added De Zerbi of his revamped team.

Monaco begins its Champions League campaign next Thursday with a home match against Barcelona and warmed up with a 3-0 away win at newly promoted Auxerre.

Thilo Kehrer headed in the early lead following a corner and Brazilian full-back Vanderson made it 2-0 before Denis Zakaria sealed the win for the team from the principality shortly before the end.