Paris serve up victory against Lyon!

Bon appétit! For their final match before the international break, Les Rouge et Bleu travelled to the hostile land of Olympique Lyonnais, the capital of gastronomy... An electric atmosphere, a historic fixture, heightened motivation: one thing is certain, there were all the ingredients on Sunday for a great evening's football. Because while the state of the league table is one thing, the reality on the pitch is quite another, especially when there is a whiff of rivalry in the air.

For this clash, Luis Enrique decided to bring back the same starting eleven that clinched the tasty victory over Lens a week earlier, calling on his players to sharpen their knives. As a result, Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé were once again supported by Asensio. Manuel Ugarte, Vitinha and our very own Warren Zaïre-Emery followed suit in a complementary and effective midfield.

It did not take long to realise that this duel with Les Gones would be a fierce battle. Luis Enrique's men had just one objective in mind: to stay true to their attacking philosophy and impose their will on Les Gones, thereby breaking them down.

Les Rouge et Bleu put everything that has become their trademark on the menu: intense pressing when they lost the ball, one-two's, textbook combinations and sharp passes. It was a winning performance that allowed them to serve the entrée after just three minutes of play! A ball picked up by the impressive Manuel Ugarte earned the Parisians a penalty, which Kylian Mbappé converted with authority (0-1, 4'). What a start to the match!

And as you can only eat so much, our players took great pleasure in making their rivals run, implementing their plan to perfection. So when Vitinha and Ousmane Dembélé continued to send shivers through Lyon's defence, it was no coincidence that we were able to break quickly! And it was Achraf Hakimi, opportunistic after another Dembélé run, who was on hand to push the ball into the back of the net (0-2, 20').

The scoreline could have been even greater on the half-hour mark had Asensio's magnificent counter-attack, relayed perfectly by Achraf Hakimi, not ended withy the ball crashing against Anthony Lopes' crossbar (31'). It was a minor disappointment for the home side, who tried to take advantage of it with their first chance of the game. But not to worry! Gigio Donnarumma kept a close eye on them, making two decisive saves. As if on cue, another flash of brilliance came at the other end of the pitch, with Marco Asensio latching onto Manuel Ugarte's inch-perfect through-ball to fire home past Lopes (0-3, 38').

Naturally, with a 4-0 lead after the first half, a choppier second half was to be expected. But Luis Enrique's men did not hold back and continued to delight us, offering us two more shots onto the cross-bar from Mbappé, who was in the end adjudged to be offside (47'), and then Dembélé from a Hernandez cross (55'). Lyon, however, held their nerve to reduce the deficit late on when Tolisso converted a penalty (1-4, 74'). Anecdotal for our Rouge et Bleu, who treated us to a hearty meal on Sunday evening.

The capital club now sit in second place in the table - the perfect way to build up the confidence they need for the big game that awaits them on their return, with a thrilling triptych against Nice, Dortmund and Marseille.