ASSE 0 – PSG 4
Heart and courage are not always enough. Against Lyon (1-0) and Monaco (1-0), he allowed the Greens to win without necessarily shining.
Sunday evening, facing a galactic PSG where Di Maria, Neymar, Mbappé and Icardi started together for the first time of the season, it took more than that.
Much more, even, when Aholou left his team at ten after catching Parades’ knee (24th).
At eleven against eleven, the mission was already complicated for the Greens already led after the opening of the score of Parades, his first goal in the shirt of PSG since his arrival in January 2018 (0-1, 9th). Outnumbered, it was impossible.
Paris in his hand
For this gala match, the last of the year at Geoffroy-Guichard, Claude Puel had decided to return to a defense at 5, with Gabriel Silva as the right piston.
His plan to block Neymar and Mbappé on the wings did not last thirty minutes. The Castres had to adapt, going back to a four-man defense with Camara and Trauco very low in the corridors, then launching Youssouf in the middle after the break.
Whatever the men and the system, Paris played the match at his hand.
According to their desires, the men of Thomas Tuchel placed devastating banners. Ruffier pushed the deadline ahead of Meunier (18th) and Neymar (30th, 37th) but narrowly lost his duel to Mbappé (0-2, 43rd).
The 36,391 spectators of yet another fantastic Cauldron could have dreamed of another game. Because Saint-Etienne had several chances in the encounter. Or rather Bouanga.
The Gabonese made speak his speed and his class to bring the danger on the goal of Navas (4th, 32nd, 48th, 50th).
As too often this season, the Foréziens have not managed to materialize their situations. Faced with PSG, it is even more problematic.
The Parisians have not forced their talent to bring their series of invincibility against ASSE to nineteen games. Icardi (0-3, 72nd) spiked the bill and Mbappé (0-4, 90th) put an end to the Parisian demonstration when a firework display burst from the North kop. Without Ruffier (52nd), Perrin on his line (53rd), the bad luck of Di Maria (55th, on the post) and the clumsiness of Neymar who found the amount of his penalty (62nd), the note could have been even more salty.
Claude Puel described the meeting as a parenthesis at a press conference on Saturday. The Greens’ coach must be happy that it is already closed.
With this setback, second in the league, ASSE drops to 11th place in the standings, six points behind Lille, third.