Stats & Facts: A look back at the game against Lorient
After Paris Saint-Germain's final game of the year last night, a 1-1 draw away to Lorient, let's take a look at the key figures and standout events from the Matchday 19 encounter in Ligue 1.
Paris TOP AT THE HALFWAY STAGE!
Although winter has only just begun, the capital club have made sure that they're heading into the mid-season break with the honorary title of "autumn champions", which celebrates the best club from the first half of the campaign. With a lead of no fewer than 13 points over their main pursuers, OGC Nice and Olympique de Marseille, Paris are sitting comfortably in first place ahead of the twists and turns that await them in 2022.
Stats-wise, this gap is a rather promising sign, as it has been more than 20 years since a team with a lead of more than nine points at the halfway stage last saw the French league title slip from their grasp.
paris love a good run
Ever since their one and only defeat of the Ligue 1 season to date away to Rennes, Paris have been on a roll – a pretty decent roll, too, as Les Rouge et Bleu have lost none of their last ten league matches. By way of comparison, only Inter Milan and Real Madrid (each on 11 games without defeat) are on a longer unbeaten run in the top five European leagues.
In fact, the capital club have a habit of avoiding defeat when closing out the first half of the season, as shown by their fantastic run of 11 games without loss in the final fixture of each year since 2010!
CHARACTER When it matters
"Ne jamais rien lâcher, toujours encourager" ('Don't give up, keep on encouraging') is a chant dear to our fans' hearts, and our players have made it their motto this season! Following the games against Strasbourg, Brest, Lyon, Metz, Montpellier and many more, Paris have made scoring in the final minutes of the game a real strength of character, and they stayed true to the stats against Lorient on Wednesday.
Despite going a man down following Sergio Ramos's sending-off and trailing on the scoreboard, the Parisians again found the energy to score one last goal in the 91st minute of the game thanks to a header from Mauro Icardi. As a result, Paris have picked up ten points in the final five minutes of play in Ligue 1 this season – at least double the total of any other team in the competition!
Mauro THE SAVIOUR
Having already scored in the Coupe de France three days earlier, Mauro Icardi again took matters into his own hands against Les Merlus, earning his side a draw with just seconds left to go in the match. Incidentally, the Argentine's goal was his eighth from a cross in Ligue 1. Since his arrival in the French top flight in the 2019-20 season, only Andy Delort (15) and Ludovic Ajorque (12) have scored more of this type of goal than him. As the spearhead of scoring late goals, the N° 9 has netted 39% (9/23) of his goals in the final ten minutes of play!
