But: Dembélé (4e) for PSG
Expulsion: Khusanov (59e) Blood and Gold side
The idea of a three-way fight for the title of French champion therefore took a little less than three months to become an illusion. A week, even, since last weekend could have left us with three teams tied at the top and PSG finally has this Saturday evening already six points ahead of Monaco, beaten the day before by Angers and left behind by the Luis Enrique gang, who mastered Lens (1-0) because they are much stronger (at least in the first period) and because they could not miss such an opportunity to settle comfortably on the throne, already far ahead of competitors who will have to prove in the coming weeks that they can really be there.
Messages and gifts
It was an evening to send messages at the Parc des Princes. The first came down from the stands, where the Auteuil corner had reserved a banner and songs for the Marseille rival a week after the new victory at the Vélodrome (0-3), before moving on to something else and a life-size tifo. On the other side, in the Lensois parking lot, a burst of smoke bombs and a protest written on several banners: “ Qatar is killing French football. » On the pitch, it was the approximations that killed the Sang et Or, perhaps still hungover after the cruel defeat in the derby. The premiere of Adrien Thomasson remained without incident (2e), Jonathan Gradit's second immediately allowed Paris to take the lead. The Lensois defender missed his return and his tackle on Bradley Barcola, leaving the new darling of the Park tumbling down the left side, moving towards the surface and depositing the opener on a plate to Ousmane Dembélé, who could do nothing about it. other than marking (1-0, 4e). Racing would have done without such a start, like the exit of Florian Sotoca for a glitch in his thigh (20e) or the expulsion of Abdukodir Khusanov (curse obliges…) for a dangerous tackle on the ankle of Achraf Hakimi (59e).
In truth, eleven against eleven as well as numerically inferior, the Lensois almost always seemed far from a serious PSG and without Gianluigi Donnarumma, who remained on the bench to leave his cage for Matvey Safonov. The Russian did not have much to do, sometimes dealing with Mbala Nzola's pressing and capturing the rare artesian attempts, notably that of Anass Zaroury (22e) or the nice helmet hit of Deiver Machado (32e). Too light technically, the Lensois ran a lot after the ball, sometimes remaining spectators in front of the Parisian phases of possession and the arabesques of the untenable Barcola (a small bridge here, a large bridge there). Which did not prevent Paris from being returned to its demons at the start of the season: the lack of efficiency.
Efficiency is not settled for PSG
A quarter of an hour from the end, it already took more than two hands to count the chances missed by the locals: Marco Asensio made the collection (14e30e42e43e66e), Hakimi multiplied the breakthroughs and crosses, pushing Kevin Danso to come close to scoring an own goal (19e), Fabian Ruiz didn't have enough calcium to pull harder (30e), Willian Pacho made a complete mistake on a four against two in the last thirty meters (34e) and Barcola himself whistled the intermission of a chiche sent above (45e+4). There was some clumsiness, as too often, but also a great Brice Samba (seven saves) to leave Lens alive in a rather miraculous way. The Lensois goalkeeper flew away on an attempt by Barcola (72e), as if to refuse to abdicate. Especially since his defenders didn't let him go either, Malang Sarr extinguishing the hope of a first goal for Désiré Doué (76e) and his friends taking care of playing the fire extinguishers in the area facing the Parisian headquarters.
The symbols of a much less convincing second period – despite the red of a Khusanov who wanted to tickle the Parisians – and which could have allowed Lens to reconsider their rare approaches, by Diouf and Ojediran (65e68e), and to avoid a second defeat in a row in a championship where these limits in finishing are enough to fly over, at least for the moment, Ligue 1. PSG knows the song: it will be necessary, at some point or another, not needing around fifteen chances to score two goals, especially when we know that Atlético de Madrid and the Champions League arrive on Wednesday.
Live: PSG-Lens (1-0)
