Out of favour PSG star Neymar bagged a brace in a 3-0 pre-season friendly win against Korean side Jeonbuk Motors at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium.
The Brazilian reminded fans of his supreme talent with an outrageous effort to open the scoring shortly before half-time.
Neymar doubled his tally after the break before new signing Marco Asensio put the result beyond any doubt after some intricate link-up play with his mercurial colleague.
Jeonbuk, who are currently sitting in fourth place in the K League standings, made a decent effort of testing their more illustrious opponents but could ultimately manage only a single shot on target from their eight attempts in Thursday’s encounter.
In the end Luis Enrique’s squad proved much too strong for the Asian side, even with the notable absence of star man Kylian Mbappe as the club continues to oppose his decision to move on for free next summer.
Neymar is returning to full fitness after his season was cut short by an serious ankle injury
Neymar has been linked with a departure from the Parc de Princes this summer after failing to meet expectations in previous seasons at the club
PSG’s Luis Enrique won the Champions League with a Barcelona side that included Neymar
PSG came into the tie off the back of defeat to Inter Milan where the French champions conspired to concede twice in the final seven minutes to lose to their Serie A opponents.
With just over a week until their Ligue 1 opener on August 12, Enrique opted to field a strong starting XI that retained space for a few of the club’s talented youngsters including the likes of Cher Ndour, Ismael Gharbi, Nhaga Serif and Ethan Mbappe – Kylian’s younger brother.
The Parisian’s dominated the early going, enjoying the lion share of posession and attempts on goal before Neymar’s stamped his authority on the game with his amazing opener.
The 31-year-old began a trademark dribble on the edge of the area before getting stopped in his tracks thanks to some great defending.
Unfazed the former Barcelona man produced a cheeky ankle roll to create space from his defender before firing a shot into the bottom corner.
Neymar bagged his second in the 83th minute after more pressure from the visitors, running in behind and calmly slotting past the goal keeper. He then linked up wonderfully with Asensio, who curled his effort into the top corner end a productive day’s work.
Enrique’s side hots Lorient in Ligue 1 on August 12 when they will hope to have resolved their stalemate with Mbappe.
