The Argentine was one of the capital club's stand-out performers in the win over Metz.
Thomas Tuchel was deprived of front men (Neymar Jr suspended, and Kylian Mbappé self-isolating), but Angel Di Maria was on the Parc des Princes pitch, the very definition of self-sacrifice.
📸🔝⚡️ Très belle première période de notre 𝗙𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 #PSGFCM pic.twitter.com/H18WEWqTQR
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) September 16, 2020
Up against a well-drilled, compact Metz side, perspiration was required just as much as inspiration, and the Argentina international was exemplary in contributing both.
From the start, the no. 11 was involved in everything: winning back possession when positioned on either flank, and moving in between the lines to find that precious space.
He quickly found his fellow forwards when he got the ball: crosses for Mauro Icardi led to good chances (13', 28', 33'), and there were precise passes for Pablo Sarabia (14', 24') and Julian Draxler (40'). In total, Di Maria sent over a game-high 12 crosses.
He even tried to find a way past Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja himself (4', 8', 79').
It wasn't Di Maria who scored the matchwinner, but he had more than a hand in it. It was his cross that led to Icardi's effort on goal that Oukidja again saved, but could not stop the rebound snapped up by Draxler (1-0, 90+3'). Just desserts for El Fideo after a game in which he gave absolutely everything.
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The stats speak for themselves. He had 100 touches and five shots, three on target, with five passes teeing up a teammate to shoot.
It was was the 88th time Tuchel had started Di Maria, making the 32-year-old by far the most-used player during the German coach's tenure in Paris, and shows the esteem his boss holds him in.
After having a hand in 35 goals in 2019-20, 26 goals in 2018-19, and 33 in 2017-18, the Rosario-born native is up and running in the new campaign in every sense.