Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery was thrilled with the patience shown by the Ligue 1 champions in their narrow win over Bastia and praised the impact made by his substitutes.
Layvin Kurzawa's goal 17 minutes from time gave PSG a narrow 1-0 victory in Corsica on Friday as they started their pursuit of a fifth consecutive Ligue 1 title with three points.
PSG struggled going forward for much of the match without the injured Edinson Cavani - a stark contrast to their free-flowing 4-1 win over Lyon in the Trophee des Champions last time out.
But Emery was satisfied to grind out a positive result, with new signing Jese Rodriguez one of the players to impress from the bench as his saved shot led to Kurzawa's decisive late strike – the full-back's second in as many games.
"We are very happy to have won and these three points will give us confidence," Emery said after his first league game at the helm.
"The players who know Bastia had warned me and the context of the game made things difficult, with a lot of pressure from our opponents and the fans.
"We did not play like we did against Lyon, although it was a different game. Like the West Brom friendly, when you are playing against a very defensive team, it takes patience to build.
"I'm happy with the work put in, the tactical work we have done and very happy with the way the players who came off the bench adapted.
"It was not exactly the game I wanted, there are several things I saw in the first half that need improving. That said, we played well, particularly in the second half where we made several chances to score."
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