PSG failure against Lyon: Neymar was carried away in tears

In France’s best match there was no waiting, both teams were looking for a way forward from the beginning. It turned out to be an interesting match, but in the face of goals there were only half chances.

The only dangerous finish to the opening phase was the very conspicuous Alessandro Florenzi. The Italian received a high pass from his compatriot Marco Verratti right in the penalty area and missed the left corner by just one meter (8th).

After that, the game developed mainly in midfield, where Lyon dominated. There were only goal closures from outside the penalty area. The best attempt was made by Tino Kadewere, who aimed over the gate from a middle right position from 21 meters (35º).

In the same minute, however, Kadewere had a better chance. Presnel Kimpembe lost the ball in forward motion and Toto Ekambi took advantage of it immediately. The attacker put the ball in the gap that Kimpembe had opened and thus Kadewere marched only towards Keylor Navas. The Zimbabwean man kept his cool and hit the bottom left corner (35).

After falling behind, Paris tried a bit more forward, but only got half a chance through Florenzi. On this occasion, a Mitchel Bakker cross slipped to the far post and from there Florenzi threw the ball on goal with all his might. But the shot was too out of place to overtake Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes (43).

After the break, OL regained the advantage in central midfield and therefore also over the game. Kimpembe caused the first nuisance again. The defender put a very risky tackle on Memphis Depay. The Frenchman played the ball first, but then correctly cleared the Lyon captain. Referee Benoît Bastien ruled against a penalty whistle during the deployment in the penalty area and VAR (51) did not intervene either.

After 65 minutes, PSG coach Thomas Tuchel reacted, made three changes and brought in his superstar Kylian Mbappé. However, the measure should not bear fruit.

Lyon had the next chance instead. Lucas Paqueta prevailed bravely in the middle and tested Navas from 18 meters. The PSG goalkeeper proved his reliability and launched himself into the lower left corner (68º).

In the final stages, Paris increased the pressure again, but Danilo Pereira (84th) missed more than one missed chance with a header and a blocked shot from Rafinha (87th). The Lyon guests even missed the opportunity to make a decision through Bruno Guimarães. The Brazilian failed from an acute angle to Navas (90º + 1).

Shortly before the end, Thiago Mendes provoked the negative climax of the match: the Brazilian rudely knocked down his compatriot Neymar and received a yellow card. The PSG superstar had to leave the field in tears after the foul.

After a brief consultation with the VAR, referee Benoît Bastien decided to change his mind and showed Mendes the red card (90º + 9º). However, this did not change the end result.

Maxwel Cornet (Olympique de Lyon): “We saw that we can do great things, but the season is still long. We cannot let ourselves be disturbed now.”

Rudi García (Olympique Lyon coach): “We defended well and prevented them from entering the game. We could have done better in the second half. We could have won higher. Depay’s penalty was also overlooked. But we are very happy with this victory.”

Paris Saint Germain had a lot of injured players to complain about throughout the season, this situation has eased somewhat recently, but only for a short time. Captain Marquinhos had to pass before the game and then his replacement Abdou Diallo had to go down in the 31st minute. Plus there’s the alleged injury to superstar Neymar.

Paris Saint Germain had very little to do with the match, so the capitals only fired one shot on goal in the entire match. This wine from Alessandro Florenzi (42º). The fact that the right-back was PSG’s most dangerous player throughout the match speaks volumes about Paris’ offensive performance.

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