TOPS/FLOPS – The Parisians won at the end of the third day of Ligue 1 on the LOSC pitch (1-3).
TOPS
With Barcola and Dembélé, PSG is armed
Without Kylian Mbappé, life is good for now! The Parisian wings have continued to hurt the Ligue 1 teams since the start of the season. Le Havre, Montpellier and now… Lille. In a balanced start to the match, it was Dembélé who showed himself first by warming Chevalier’s gloves twice and causing a penalty, before leaving the spotlight to his counterpart on the left side Bradley Barcola. After a first missed one-on-one, the former OL player ended up crucifying Chevalier on the second to leave his team two lengths ahead at the break. In the second half, he was systematically dangerous on the counter, like Dembélé.
Vitinha, keep shining
With him, PSG fears nothing. Cool-headed, decisive defensive returns and a vision of the game that is still important for his team. He is the hub of Luis Enrique’s system and greatly hindered Lille in the first half with his partner Joao Neves. He knew how to take responsibility to take the penalty with a run-up like… Neymar. Lucas Chevalier had no chance to react. As a bonus, he spoke perfect French in the mixed zone after the match. “I like the way our team plays”. Believe it or not, young Portuguese, we also like to see you play football.
Zhegrova and her brilliant exploits
He brought back some suspense to a match that seemed to be slipping away from Paris. And he woke up his fans. Despite a lack of consistency in the match, Edon Zhegrova was capable of a lightning strike with his left foot to get his team back on track. Throughout the match, he tried to combine with Santos on his right side, without ever really making the right move. But as in every match, he is capable of doing things that others cannot do.
Also readLigue 1: PSG wins in Lille and continues its flawless run
FLOPS
The Lille defense was never able to contain the Parisian attacks
“In a Champions League match, you have to avoid two things: offensive inefficiency and defensive errors,” Bruno Genesio explained to the microphone of DAZN at the end of the match. His team never managed to contain the Parisian attacks. The latter always knew how to find spaces, especially behind the Lille pistons with Barcola and Dembélé who had a great time. In the second half, while the Parisians were playing on the counterattack and attacking with a numerical inferiority, they systematically found the spaces to combine and remain dangerous.
Genesio’s choices did not pay off
The accumulation of matches did not help Lille coach Bruno Genesio in his choices, but it must be acknowledged that they were not good. First, the three-at-back system with the arrows Dembélé and Barcola on the wings was not the right one. An adaptation during the match could have helped not to chase the score. Then the starting positions of Mandi, Gomes and Bayo were not a success and the absence of David weighed. The Canadian striker had been left on the bench after having played the last five matches in Ligue 1 and the Champions League. The presence of Hakon Haraldsson in midfield would have been doubtless more effective than an Angel Gomes who had barely returned to training in the middle of the week.
PSG must manage better
In a match like this, PSG must learn to better manage their end of the match. With a two-goal lead, the Parisians let Lille regain confidence throughout the second half and Zhegrova took advantage. The locals even equalized before seeing their goal disallowed for a questionable offside after reviewing the footage. Fortunately for the capital club, Kolo-Muani came to dampen Lille’s hopes with a well-placed header. Management, an area of progression to improve for PSG in the coming weeks to achieve its ultimate goal: winning the Champions League.
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