Match report | On the occasion of the seventh Ligue 1 matchday, OGC Nice welcomed reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain. In an entertaining game, both teams separated with a fair 1-1 draw.
PSG has the ball, but OGC Nice counterattack dangerously and take the lead through Ali Abdi
On Sunday evening the decided OGC Nice and Paris Saint-Germain the seventh Ligue-1-Game day. At the Allianz Riviera stadium, the host from the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur wanted to catch up with the European places with a respectable success. Meanwhile hoped for PSGto overtake the current leader AS Monaco in the table sun.
Franck Haisecoach of the home team, reacted to the heavy 1:4 defeat in the Europa League at SS Lazio with four personnel changes. Among other things, BVB loanee Youssoufa Moukoko initially sat on the bench. Head coach brought the guests Luis Enriquecompared to the 0-2 defeat in the premier class at Arsenal FC, three fresh players. Ousmane Dembélé, who was recently suspended, was surprisingly in the starting line-up. The 38-year-old referee Jérome Brisard was entrusted with directing the match.
At the start of the encounter, Nice allowed the series champions from the state capital almost complete possession of the ball. However, the hosts preferred quick transitions instead of visual field superiority and had promising opportunities to take an early lead thanks to two almost identical actions, initiated by the quick-witted Evann Guessand (4th & 6th). In each case, Mohamed-Ali Cho narrowly missed the cross.
A few turns later, PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma brilliantly parried a header from French U21 international Cho from close range (13th). However, the referee had blown the whistle in advance due to a debatable striker foul. The guests from Paris only got better into the game after about half an hour. Instead of pushing the ball around, Enrique’s men were now pressing in the opponent’s third.
Consequently, they booked Red-and-Blue (Red-Blues) had their first significant opportunity in the 38th minute. After taking a corner kick Nuno Mendes put his heart into his hand, but failed due to the presence of mind of Marcin Bulka. Things were better on the other side Ali Abdi. The Tunisian also tried from a distance, but benefited from Nuno Mendes deflecting the ball unstoppably for Donnarumma. The not undeserved 1-0 lead in favor of the home team (39th).
Nuno Mendes equalized the score shortly after the restart and Nice limited themselves to defensive work
Paris Saint-Germain came out of the locker room briskly and wanted to reduce the deficit as quickly as possible. Dembélé’s shot was noted as the first warning signal, but the enfant terrible found its master in Polish goalkeeper Bulka (47th). The pressure increased noticeably and as a logical consequence, left-back Nuno Mendes equalized the score from a good 20 meters away (52′). Just seconds later, PSG defense chief Marquinhos headed a delicate cross from substitute Kang-in Lee onto the post (54′).
In the 59th minute, OGC Nice also looked for salvation on the offensive for the first time in the second half. After a stormy run down the right flank, former Bielefeld player Jonathan Clauss brought the ball into the center, where Marquinhos almost scored an own goal (62′). For the rest of the game, the spectators witnessed more intense duels than resolute approaches to the goal. Ultimately, there was a 1-1 draw on the scoreboard, which was fair for most of the game.
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After the international match phase, OGC Nice will continue on Sunday, October 20th (5 p.m.), in the first floor of French football at FC Nantes. PSG welcomed Racing Strasbourg to the Prinzenpark the day before (9 p.m.).
OGC Nice – Paris Saint-Germain 1:1 (1:0)
OGC Nice: Bulka – Ndayishimiye (57th Mendy), Bombito, Dante – Clauss, Ndombelé (88th Rosario), Boudaoui, Abdi, Cho (77th Diop), Boga (77th Moukoko) – Guessand (88th Bouanani)
Paris Saint-Germain: G. Donnarumma – Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes – Zaire-Emery (71. Vitinha), Joao Neves, Fabian (78. Asensio) – Dembelé, Kolo Muani (46. K.-I. Lee), B. Barcola
Tore: 1:0 Abdi (39.), 1:1 Nuno Mendes (52.)
(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
