Two weeks after being held to a draw at OGC Nice, Paris Saint-Germain got back to winning ways on Saturday at the Parc des Princes with a 4-2 victory over Racing Club de Strasbourg. Here's a look back at the Parisians' entertaining win over the Alsaciens.
After an intense international break, the players from the capital club returned to Ligue 1 and their supporters with the aim of rediscovering their taste for victory, ahead of an important European fixture against PSV Eindhoven in three days' time. It was a mission that had the potential to be a banana skin for the Parisians, who were up against a solid Strasbourg side who have only lost once this season.
To try and outwit the plans of Liam Rosenior, Luis Enrique lined up a central defensive pairing of Milan Skriniar and Willian Pacho in front of the Parisian goal guarded by Gianluigi Donnarumma as captain. On the right flank, Warren Zaïre-Emery came in, with Lucas Beraldo on the opposite side. In midfield, Vitinha took up the holding role, while João Neves and Senny Mayuluu played slightly higher. In attack, the Spanish coach decided to line up Désiré Doué on the right wing and Bradley Barcola on the left, to accompany Marco Asensio, who started as a false 9.
In an even start to the game, it was the Rouge et Bleu who lit the first fuse. Played in by Marco Asensio towards the Strasbourg goal, Désiré Doué managed to get into a shooting position but was denied by Mamadou Sarr's saving tackle, who conceded the corner (6'). Gradually, the Parisians forced the visitors back into their own half, allowing Senny Mayulu to take his chance from 25 metres out, but his shot struck the left-hand upright of a beaten-looking Djordje Petrovic (12').
The pressure gradually intensified on the Strasbourg keeper's goal, and this time it paid off. Mayulu, once again, combined with Bradley Barcola on the left, and with a perfectly weighted ball, the Titi wasted no time in unleashing a powerful shot in the box that nestled under the Racing crossbar (1-0, 18'). The second attempt was the right one for the Paris No.24, who opened the scoring for the capital club and scored his first-ever top-flight goal in the process, while Bradley Barcola handed out his first assist of the season.
Disciplined, the Parisians did not let the visitors back into the game despite constant pressure. Just before half-time, Luis Enrique's men came close to doubling their lead through Bradley Barcola (41') and then Senny Mayulu (42'), who was in fine form. But our Rouge et Bleu lacked precision in the final action, and went into the break with a one goal lead.
However, the Parisians got off to a flying start in the second half and soon managed to add to their lead. Following another burst of acceleration from Bradley Barcola, Marco Asensio was on alert in the opposition box to poke home from close range (2-0, 47'). The tone was set for the second period, and Senny Mayulu went close to doubling his tally moments later, but Petrovic pulled off an incredible save (50'). The Alsatians responded through Diego Moreira, who forced Gigio Donnarumma into a save (52').
Just as the hour mark approached, Racing finally managed to restore some hope when Sékou Mara reduced the deficit after Dilane Bakwa had played him in well at the near post from the right (2-1, 58'). The game was back on, and the next few minutes were full of twists and turns in a Parc des Princes that played its role of the twelfth man to the full. After Bradley Barcola appeared to have been caught in the Strasbourg penalty area, the referee pointed to the spot before reversing his decision after consulting video assistance (64'). However, the in-form Parisian winger quickly got his revenge, curling a shot past Petrovic after having outwitted the opposition defence (3-1, 65').
The Parisians were not ready to stop there, and they put together a marvellous team move to force Saïdou Sow into an own goal. But just as the Parc de Paris was celebrating a fourth goal, it was eventually disallowed for a slight offside (69'). After a quarter of an hour of madness, the intensity gradually subsided and the Rouge et Bleu kept control of the game. Lee Kang-In, who had come on thirty minutes earlier, capitalised on some superb work by the João Neves/Ibrahim Mbaye duo to make it 4-1 (90‘), just moments before young Pape Daouda Diong scored a second for Racing (4-2, 90’+2).
After a match full of twists and turns, Paris Saint-Germain returned to winning ways and regained their place at the top of the table with 20 points, the same as second-placed Monaco. The capital club can now turn their attention to their next match, against PSV Eindhoven at the Parc des Princes. The match will be played next Tuesday at 9pm, on Matchday 3 of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League. The date is set!