Neymar scores early goal as PSG starts season with 3-0 win

Neymar took just 10 minutes to score defending champion Paris Saint-Germain's first goal of the season, and teen striker Timothy Weah netted the first of his French league career, in a 3-0 home win against Caen on Sunday.

On the same pitch where he broke his foot against Marseille six months ago, Neymar ran onto a pass from midfielder Christopher Nkunku and coolly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Brice Samba and into the bottom left corner.

Samba was at fault for the goal after botching a clearance and instead passing straight to Nkunku.

PSG's Neymar, center, celebrates the opening goal during their League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Caen at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMichel Euler)

The visitors almost equalized moments later but veteran Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made a smart stop from striker Malik Tchokounte's volley.

But after another mistake, when Caen lost the ball in midfield, winger Angel Di Maria broke down the right and set up midfielder Adrien Rabiot for a tap-in in the 35th.

Buffon saved again, this time near halftime, and smiled after preventing a headed own-goal from PSG captain Thiago Silva.

PSG's Neymar, center, challenge for the ball with Caen's Stef Peeters, left, during their League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Caen at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMichel Euler)

It was a comfortable first league game in charge for PSG coach Thomas Tuchel — who replaced Unai Emery — and he chose to rest several players. They included forward Kylian Mbappe, who helped France win the World Cup, and Belgium right back Thomas Meunier.

Tuchel picked three 19-year-olds in his side, underlining his reputation from his time as a coach in Germany , where he fast-tracked players from the youth academy at Mainz.

Neymar, making his first appearance since Brazil's World Cup quarterfinal defeat to Belgium, had a quiet game after his goal and was replaced 10 minutes from time by the 18-year-old Weah.

PSG's Neymar reacts after a clash during their League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Caen at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMichel Euler)

Samba made another glaring mistake near the end, gifting another goal after failing to properly clear a back pass. Weah, who is the son of Liberia President and former PSG striker George Weah, gleefully stroked the ball home.

Monaco, Lyon and Marseille also clinched victories — meaning the top four from last season all won their opening games — and Marseille leads on goal difference from PSG after beating Toulouse 4-0 on Friday.

DEPAY DELIVERS

PSG's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon reacts during their League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Caen at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMichel Euler)

Memphis Depay expertly curled in a free kick as Lyon beat Amiens 2-0 at home.

With 15 minutes remaining, the Netherlands forward whipped the ball from the left into the top right corner to seal a comfortable victory after winger Bertrand Traore scored with a neat run and finish in the 24th minute.

Depay scored 19 league goals last season, finishing it strongly to put himself in the frame for a move to a bigger club. The former Manchester United player recently said that, although he feels happy at Lyon, he is open to a move before the summer transfer window closes at the end of August.

PSG's Thiago Silva, right, and PSG's Timothy Weah celebrate victory in their League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Caen at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMichel Euler)

Also Sunday, Strasbourg won 2-0 at Bordeaux.

Strasbourg played most of the game with an extra player after Brazilian defender Pablo was sent off in the 13th minute for pulling back forward Ludovic Ajorque as he ran through on goal.

The Alsace side made the pressure count in the 68th through a goal from midfielder Ibrahima Sissoko, and striker Nuno Da Costa struck 10 minutes later.

PSG's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, right, and PSG's Antoine Bernede celebrate victory in their League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Caen at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMichel Euler)

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Jerome Pugmire on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeromepugmire

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)