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AS Monaco achieved one of the results of the season to defeat Paris Saint-Germain on Friday night.
There has been a real feeling during the 2020/21 campaign that the PSG team that generally blows away everyone who preceded them in Ligue 1 has never been more beatable while Thomas Tuchel has been in charge.
After all, the reigning champions had opened their title defense with back-to-back losses to Lens and Marseille, while they could face elimination from the Champions League in the group stage.
PSG advances 2-0
However, PSG had won their last eight league games on the rebound and it seemed that service was resuming normally as they built a comfortable lead at halftime at Stade Louis II.
Kylian Mbappé scored a double against his former team with an impressive display of pace for the opener, while showing nerves of steel from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 in the interval.
However, it could have been even more emphatic were it not for the fact that VAR saved Monaco from a potential 4-0 deficit with goals from Moise Kean and Mbappé scored by technology.
Fabregas changes the game
But football, like so much of sport, is simply unpredictable and Niko Kovac made a chess move at half time that would change the face of the game: replace Cesc Fabregas.
While it’s no secret that Fabregas is one of the best midfielders of the last 15 years, arguably we haven’t seen him playing his best football since his first season with Chelsea in 2014/15.
Even the 33-year-old himself will admit that he is on the decline, but you know what they say: the form is temporary, the class is permanent and that couldn’t have been more evident against PSG.
That’s because Fabregas was absolutely instrumental, as Monaco rallied 2-0 against to snatch all three points against the Champions League finalists.
The highlights of Fabregas
Kevin Volland pocketed a double in the second half with Fabregas becoming a supplier for the second, before the former Barcelona player won and converted the penalty that condemned PSG to defeat.
Not to mention the fact that Fabregas appeared to be playing soccer from his heyday with Arsenal throughout the 45 minutes, pinging dangerous passes of all kinds down the left, right and center.
As a result, we are given nothing but pleasure to refer you to the impressive Fabregas highlights of the night, so check them out, courtesy of Twitter user @LSComps, down:
AS Monaco 3-2 PSG
Just when you thought we’d seen the last of Fabregas in his prime at 33, he goes and produces an impressive performance like that from the bench against European giants.
The World Cup winner maintained 88% passing accuracy during the win, created four chances in total, won three of four tackles, attempted three shots, provided an assist and scored.
You can’t ask for much more than that and the win over PSG put the 2016/17 champions four points behind their rivals, perhaps suggesting we could be in for a mouthwatering title race.
But regardless of how the rest of 2020/21 plays out, PSG will rarely face a more devastating performance from an opposing player than Fabregas’ game-changing demonstration this week.
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