Storm Ciara sent a rain of goals on Sunday evening in the Parc des Princes, during a match with twists and turns that highlighted the flaws of the last two French representatives in the European Cup.
Without great consequence in the classification – Paris remains clearly in the lead, Lyon clearly won the European places -, the victory of the players of Thomas Tuchel sounds paradoxically as a warning for the Parisians and an encouragement for the Lyonnais.
The players of Rudi Garcia indeed showed a good capacity of reaction, to the point that, 17 minutes after having conceded the goal of 3-0, they passed a few centimeters from a 3-3 equalization, on a resumption of Moussa Dembélé .
Before this disturbing Parisian air gap, the first half, wind in the back for the leaders of Ligue 1, had been a demonstration of 45 minutes. Without an imperfect mastery of the offside rule by Mauro Icardi, PSG would have returned to the locker room with four goals in advance, led by an Angel Di Maria gala. The Argentinian scored the first goal alone (left hook, uncrossed strike between the post and Lopes in the 22nd). It was then Icardi who recovered from a struggle – and hopefully – a ball in the middle of the field, entrusted it to Meunier whose long center at ground level was instinctively taken over by Kylian Mbappé (39th) .
In the stoppages of the first period, Presnel Kimpembe dried, from behind, Moussa Dembele streaking on goal. Only yellow cards, said Clément Turpin, no doubt due to the presence of Layvin Kurzawa as a possible last resort. The decision, discussed, may give regret to the Lyonnais.
Not as much, however, as the mind-boggling third Parisian goal: a one-two-three in the Lyon area whose one and three were from Lyon. After a game of billiards, Marçal catapulted the ball into his own goal, from ten meters.
When the match could have sunk into a long sluggishness, Parisians and Lyonnais joined forces to relaunch it: Terrier and Dembélé took advantage of the random concentration of the three "K" of the Parisian rearguard, Kehrer, Kimpembe and Kurzawa. Grandstands, Thiago Silva and Marquinhos could remain calm as for their place of holder.
After the 3-3 ball narrowly missed by Dembele, Paris looked up and welcomed a providential man, back on the lawn of the Park: Edinson Cavani, author of the fourth goal on his second ball. At the start of the action, a clever game reversal by Kylian Mbappé. Then the calm, altruism and technical correctness of Di Maria, whose back pass was clinically resumed by the Urugayan causing the orgasmic cry of the Parc des Princes.
The synthesis by Thomas Meunier, Parisian defender: "In the management of efforts, we can still improve." Or Dortmund will enjoy it.
