Paris Saint-Germain lost to Lorient in Ligue 1's round 33 (1-3), but they still top the league table. A look back at a tough match.
Paris Saint-Germain were back at the Parc des Princes on Sunday afternoon on a run of three invaluable victories that had seen them widen their lead atop the league table. With Lorient in less-than-sparkling form of late, Christophe Galtier and his men had no intention of underestimating opponents who were playing without pressure in this final stretch of the season. The Paris Saint-Germain coach fielded the same starting XI that won against Angers last weekend, but in a different formation - he reverted to a four-man defence, with Danilo Pereira returning to midfield.
One thing is certain: Les Merlus did not come to the capital to make up the numbers. Although the Parisians were the first to start raiding into Mvogo's area, it was the Bretons who set about constructing a victory. To start, Enzo Le Fée fired emphatically past Gigio Donnarumma after a fine team move (0-1, 15'). Then, Achraf Hakimi's second yellow card saw the home side reduced to ten men early on in the match (20').
Les Rouge et Bleu were now faced with a mountain to climb, having to resist the visitors' onslaught while being needing to score goals to hope for a result. To get the job done, Christophe Galtier moved Marquinhos to the right flank and pulled Danilo back to central defence alongside Sergio Ramos earlier than expected. But there was no need to panic.
The ingredients were known: calmness, patience, talent and a touch of audacity. After an ambitious long-range effort from Sergio Ramos, it was the irresistible Kylian Mbappé who showed all the cunning of a phenomenal striker. Pouncing on an opportunity to steal the ball from Mvogo, Mbappé caught everyone off guard and fired into an empty net (1-1, 29'). It was a move as surprising as it was crazy, and it set the Parc de France alight while also confirming his status as the league's top scorer.
It was a breath of fresh air, but it was short-lived. At the other end of the pitch, Régis Le Bris' men were still a man up and had every intention of taking advantage. It was Yongwa who gave Les Merlus the lead a few minutes later (1-2, 39').
Down but not out, our players pulled out all the stops to get back into the game. Nuno Mendes and Fabian Ruiz came on before the hour-mark to help their team-mates and this group-think began to pay off, as they managed to get their foot on the ball again and started coming dangerously close to the Breton defence. Ruiz (53'), Vitinha (55'), Ramos (58') and the indefatigable Mbappé (57', 61', 69') all tried their luck, but all failed to find the net, with Mvogo notably producing a spectacular headed save to deny Danilo's close-range header (66').
But their efforts were not rewarded. The visitors sealed their victory with a third goal, from Dieng, on a counter-attack at the end of the match (1-3, 89'), before Nuno Mendes left his team-mates with nine men on the pitch. It was a night to forget, definitely.
However, the defeat does not affect the Parisians' status as league leaders. But it does reinforce their roadmap for the end of the season: they will have to give it their all in the next few weeks in order to win a record eleventh title. Next stop: Troyes in a week's time...