A cruel finish

News

The setting:
Paris and Guingamp met at the Parc des Princes just four days after both defeated Pontivy opposition in the Coupe de France. The L1 leader up against the side sitting bottom of the league. But this was to be no walk in the park for the capital club, looking for a sixth consecutive BKT Coupe de la Ligue semi-final... 

The highlights:
This first match at the Parc in 2019 ended with a huge shock... for the away side. Despite being forced to defend doggedly for 97 minutes, En Avant Guingamp stunned Paris to break a 44-match winning streak in domestic cup competitions...

Yet it was Paris that always looked in control: Mbappé saw his voley fly just wide (3'), as Pars enjoyed nearly 80% possession in the first 15 minutes. Diaby was the net to go close from Neymar's ball over the top (21'). Di Maria then fired just over (28') and Mbappé just failed to get the telling touch at the back post (43')… Scoreless at the break as Paris failed to get a single shot on target...

Introduced at half-time along with Verratti, Cavani needed less than a minute to draw a great save from Johnsson with a diving header (46'). It was attack versus defence... but all that was about to change... Firstly, Thuram missed his (first) penalty (61')… before Neymar Jr opened the scoring with his first headed goal for Paris (1-0, 63')! 3 later Cavani had the chance to add a second, but the ball flashed across the face of goal (66')...

The VAR helped award EAG a second penalty, tucked away by Ngbakoto (1-1, 81'). And deep in stoppage time, the visitors got another penalty and this time Thuram got the uper hand over Areola (1-2, 90+3'). 30 minutes, 3 penalties: that's what it took to end an incredible winning streak.

The word: Upset
After 44 consecutive wins and 5 years undefeated in the two domestic Cup competitions, Paris came unstuck. Tonight Guingamp became the first side to defeat Paris in the Coupe de la Ligue since November 2012... 

Coming Up:
After two Cup matches to start the new year, Les Parisiens return to L1 action on Saturday (17:00), away to Amiens (17th). At the Stade de La Licorne, Les Rouge et Bleu will be looking for a 16th league win of the season... to hit the 50-point mark already... No time to cry over spilt milk! Time to bounce back!