Lille, humiliated at home by Paris-Saint-Germain (1-5), Sunday February 6, at the end of the 23and day of Ligue 1, was weighed down by his goalkeeper, Ivo Grbic, author of a catastrophic performance.
The 26-year-old goalkeeper, on loan from Atlético Madrid in August 2021, put PSG on the right track by making a huge mistake from the 10and minute: on a safe cross from Nuno Mendes, he released the ball in just the right place so that Danilo could throw himself and take advantage of this offering to open the scoring (1-0).
It was just the start of a nightmarish night for the Croatia international. Shortly after the half-hour mark, when his team revolted and logically equalized through Sven Botman after wonderful work by Hatem Ben Arfa (1-1, 28and), he again revived PSG by completely missing his exit within 5.50 meters on a corner from Lionel Messi, taken over by Presnel Kimpembe without opposition (1-2, 32and).
Just after the break, when the Argentinian leader had increased the score by beating him with a small stung ball (1-3, 38and), he distinguished himself again: after making a good reflex save on an attempt by Messi, Grbic cleared with a punch in the middle – when he could have dived to grab the ball – and in the process, Danilo offered himself a double with a deflected shot by Amadou Onana (1-4, 51and).
The goalkeeper then proved powerless on the fifth and last Parisian goal, a magnificent curling shot from Kylian Mbappé who found his skylight (1-5, 67and).
Passive and late
Throughout the match, Grbic seemed late and completely passive, like in this free kick from Messi from the side he was covering and where he was very happy to see the ball crashing into the crossbar (45and).
The Croatian international, however, seemed to be on an upward trend in recent weeks, after a disappointing first few months. During his first weeks in the North, he had never made a big mistake but he had rarely been decisive, the fault of a sometimes approximate placement or a lack of insurance in the air, despite his large size (1, 95m).
In Marseille, in mid-January (1-1), he had nevertheless managed to save the point of the draw for LOSC, who had played more than an hour outnumbered, making no less than six saves and relieving his defense in aerial sorties.
“There is a form of logic. He did all last season without playing whereas he has been playing all the time for almost six months, he has the right state of mind and trains hard, so the progression comes and the efficiency with it”, explained his coach, Jocelyn Gourvennec, after the match at the Stade-Vélodrome. “He had to adapt to a new championship, a new culture. It is up to him to maintain his high standards and his commitment”, added the Lille technician.
Sunday against Paris, he did not confirm his recent performances and will have to pull himself together to help LOSC, which points to a mediocre 11and place in Ligue 1, to negotiate its next deadlines against Montpellier, Chelsea or Lyon.