Paris – Lyon: The five goals that marked the capital
In the lead up to the Parisians facing Lyon this Sunday in matchday 14 of Ligue 1, let’s take a look back at a few goals that really marked this legendary fixture at the Parc des Princes.
Okocha’s power
On a cold October evening in 2001, Paris were sitting in a disappointing eighth place as they welcomed league leaders Lyon. It would be without Nicolas Anelka – who’d had a scuffle with Luis Fernandez – as he sat in the stands. To make matters worse, Juninho’s free kick in the 13th minute was headed home by Frédéric Née to open the scoring. Despite the miserable conditions, five minutes Jay Jay Okocha gave the fans something to cheer for (1-1, 18’).
A master of the art of dribbling, Okocha also possessed a stunning striking ability. The ex-Super Eagle showed that once more as he linked up with the two Brazilians Alex and Aloisio. Alex played the ball to the edge of the area for Okocha. The Nigerian ran onto the pass and hammered the ball first time straight into the top corner. Gregory Coupet couldn’t do anything about it. Breathtaking.
The Gones weren’t phased by that strike though as they took the lead once more from a Juni corner (1-2, 27’) before Ronaldinho equalised thanks to a penalty ten minutes from the end with his first goal in France (2-2, 79’). A spectacular goal against the Champions of France to be.
Pastore’s flair
From one artist to another… Let’s go back to 2011 to remember what El Flaco was all about. Paris were top of the table when they faced up to Jean-Michel Aulas' Gones. On that October 2, the Nêne-Menez-Pastore trio peppered the Lyon goal without being successful in the first half despite Pastore hitting a shot that cannoned back of Lloris’ post. It did end up being the number 27 who broke the deadlock in the second half.
Mathieu Bodmer’s through ball found Pastore and the Argentine international shocked everyone with a drop of the shoulder, a chop past Bakary Koné and then bursting bast the defence and slotting the ball past Lloris from a seemingly impossible angle. The Parc des Princes erupted for a single reason: Pastore’s magic. PSG won the game 2-0 on the night.
Mbappé’s 13 minutes of madness
It’s hard to put Kylian Mbappé’s performance against Lyon back in October 2018 into words… An unbelievable performance from the 19 year old world champion. He won a penalty and scored the first quadruple of his career, by practically single handily hammering the Lyonnais. A disastrous night for the visitors, in just 13 minutes (between the 61’ and 74’).
If there was one of the goals to remember it would be the Parisian’s third one. That would be the one that personified him most. Just like he describes his fantastic relationship with Neymar Jr. Mbappé’s threatening run was seen by the Brazilian who played the ball into the inside left position with the outside of his boot. The Frenchman didn’t think twice as he burst onto the pass and outpaced the Lyon backline, he took his time to face up to Anthony Lopes and slot it past him. Another one of the avalanche of goals.
Lucas’ touch
Five years ago to the day, Paris Saint-Germain faced Olympique Lyonnais on December 13 at their home… Another attacking masterclass from Laurent Blanc’s men, they put four past them in regular time with two from Ibrahimovic, one from Aurier and one from Cavani. But it was in injury time that a magical team goal finished the game off just before the final whistle (5-1, 90+1’).
A perfect counterattack. Angel Di Maria and Lucas Moura linked up brilliantly for this passage of play. After losing the ball from a corner, the Argentine winger ran the length of the pitch before finding Lucas with a delicate through ball. After being found on the right hand side, the Brazilian took a touch and finished with a powerful strike into the net. Well worth the flip in the celebration!
The Z’s Panenka
We could see a mixture of assurance, cheekiness and slight arrogance in this Panenka – these penalties that are chipped down the middle to surprise the keeper… Who else but the great Ibra to mix style and cheekiness to perform the Panenka?
The Swedish striker loved these big nights. On this December evening, in a one way game against OL (4-0), the striker bagged two penalties, one of which being the Panenka that fell just under the bar after Edi Cavani was fouled. Typical Zlatan.
