Les Parisiennes partagent les points dans le derby

Match reports

Paris Saint-Germain's women's team were held to a 1-1 draw by Paris FC at the Stade Charléty on Saturday. Here's a look back at the Matchday 10 fixture of the Arkéma Première Ligue.

After a two-week international break, the Parisiennes were back in action with a particularly mouth-watering derby against Paris FC. Currently third in the Arkema Première Ligue, four points behind the Rouge et Bleue, PFC are hot on the heels of the capital club. So the stakes and ambitions were high for both sides when the match kicked off at Charléty. Fabrice Abriel's central defensive pairing of Thiniba Samoura and Eva Gaetino was retained for the clash on Matchday 10, with Mary Earps guarding the Paris goal. The right side was occupied by Jade Le Guilly, while Tara Elimbi Gilbert took her place on the left. In the middle, Laurina Fazer supported Jackie Groenen, the captain for the evening. Further up the pitch, Manssita Traoré and Sakina Karchaoui took up positions on the wings, while Jennifer Echegini played in the centre behind Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who headed up the attack.

With the Derby on the line, the 22 players got off to a flying start. Buoyed by a capacity crowd, Paris FC sent shivers down the spines of the Charléty stadium. Mary Earps was quickly called into action by Kessya Bussy, but stood firm on her line to keep the score level (3'). As the minutes wore on, the Parisiennes upped the tempo, creating more and more dangerous chances. The clearest of these came from Jennifer Echegini, whose shot failed to hit the target of Chiamaka Nnadozie's goal (18').

PFC doubled their intensity in the face of the Rouge et Bleue's threatening attacks, but Julie Dufour's header failed to trouble Mary Earps (25'). The PSG rearguard then proved particularly solid in thwarting another PFC foray into the area. Fabrice Abriel's side took advantage of both chances to take control of the match. Marie-Antoinette Katoto was ideally placed in the box and thought she had done the hard part when she beat her opponent with a superb move, but her left-footed shot was saved by the Paris FC goalkeeper (28').

The tempo increased as the interval approached, and after another Mary Earps save from Kessya Bussy (35'), it was the Rouge et Bleue who had the best chance of the first half. After an individual display down the right, Sakina Karchaoui, who was celebrating her 100th match in Parisian colours, beat Chiamaka Nnadozie and set up Manssita Traoré, whose header unfortunately missed the target (37'). Despite a decent first half, it was goalless at the break.

Back on the pitch, it was in midfield that the battle raged, and chances soon came thick and fast for both sides. Faced with PFC's compact block, the capital club decided to move forward quickly to get ahead of the home side's rearguard. It was a tactical adjustment that soon paid off for the Parisians. Sakina Karchaoui fed it to Jade Le Guilly on the right and her first-time cross was met by Marie-Antoinette Katoto, who scored her eighth league goal of the season (0-1, 58').

Fabrice Abriel then decided to freshen things up for the final half-hour with the long-awaited return of Elisa de Almeida after an absence of more than two months. The French international replaced Joe Echegini, who was particularly influential in the match. Shocked into action, Paris FC were quick to respond, but Gaëtane Thiney's effort from the edge of the area gave Mary Earps no trouble at all (68').

Despite a solid defending, including a number of defensive runs from Jackie Groenen in sparkling form (72', 83'), Sandrine Soubeyrand's side finally managed to breach the Rouge et Bleu. A solo effort from Clara Matéo levelled the scores at the very end (1-1, 87'). At the end of a hard-fought derby, Paris FC and Paris Saint-Germain's women's team ended the game level. The result means that PSG can maintain their lead over their opponents and stay three points behind first placed Olympique Lyonnais.