PARIS (AFP) - Moussa Dembele scored and won a penalty as Lyon stunned Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 on Sunday (Feb 3) to end the runaway leaders' hopes of an unbeaten Ligue 1 campaign.
Angel di Maria fired PSG into a seventh-minute lead, but Dembele equalised and Nabil Fekir scored the winner from the spot three minutes after half-time.
"I don't know if the defeat was deserved. In the first half it was deserved, but after half-time, we still dominated," said PSG forward Kylian Mbappe.
The reigning champions remain 10 points clear of second-placed Lille at the top of the table despite the defeat, with two games in hand, while Lyon strengthened their grip on third spot, three points further back.
"We did what we had planned, namely high pressing, quick transitions, and to cause them problems every time we had the ball," said Lyon coach Bruno Genesio. "I don't think they're used to that in Ligue 1."
All eyes will now turn to the Champions League for PSG, with only a French Cup tie at third-tier Villefranche and a home game against Bordeaux to come before the last-16, first-leg clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Feb 12.
The English side's caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and assistant Mike Phelan were both in attendance at the Groupama Stadium on Sunday, just hours after their side's 1-0 Premier League win at Leicester.
The pair would have learnt plenty from watching Lyon regularly slice through the PSG defence against seemingly little resistance, while Mbappe shouldered the majority of the attacking responsibility in the absence of the injured Neymar.
"I'm not worried about the Champions League," insisted Mbappe. "We must take it match by match and wait for the Champions League."
On paper, this looked the toughest test remaining for PSG in their bid to go through the league season unbeaten, having won on just two of their previous 13 Ligue 1 visits to Lyon, losing seven.
But Thomas Tuchel's men almost forged ahead inside the first two minutes, as Kylian Mbappe raced clear only to shoot tamely at Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.
The away side did not have to wait long to strike, though, as Houssem Aouar carelessly gifted possession to Julian Draxler, who strode forward and teed up Di Maria to slot in his 10th goal of the season.
Lyon largely dominate
But Lyon, on a six-match unbeaten run in the league themselves, quickly improved and twice wasted clear-cut chances to level, as PSG 'keeper Alphonse Areola denied Bertrand Traore from point-blank range before Dembele nodded wide.
Areola had to be alert again, springing to his right to tip away a vicious long-range drive from Nabil Fekir, before producing a wonderful double stop from Traore and Memphis Depay.
However, just seconds after another excellent save to deny Fekir, Areola was totally at fault for Lyon's 33rd-minute equaliser.
The 25-year-old misjudged Leo Dubois' cross, allowing Dembele the simplest of tasks to head into the net.
PSG almost snatched a half-time lead against the run of play, but Lyon centre-back Jason Denayer made an incredible diving header to keep out Draxler's close-range shot.
Lyon, who face Barcelona in the Champions League knockout stage, continued to dominate after the restart, and were awarded a spot-kick when Dembele was brought down by Thiago Silva, with Fekir doing the rest.
That provoked PSG into life, and Lopes made two brilliant saves from Mbappe in the space of just 20 seconds.
Mbappe was PSG's best hope of salvaging their unbeaten record, but he saw Lopes divert away a low drive, before former Celtic striker Dembele wasted a golden opportunity to wrap up the points as he was again foiled by Areola.
But Lyon held on anyhow, ending their opponents' 21-game unbeaten run in the French top flight.
He established himself as an integral part of the Manchester City squad and was regarded as one of the bargain buys of the revolutionised City era, blossoming into one of the Premier League's best centre-backs. Kompany was included in the Premier League Team of the Year for two years in a row in 2011 and 2012 as well as being included in the
Women's team suing US Soccer for gender-pay disparity
England's future bright with rise of starlets: Henderson LONDON • Jordan Henderson believes that England are ready to fulfil the growing expectations around their vibrant young team as their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign kicks off with the Czech Republic's visit to Wembley today.
Youthful talent gives England a bright future, says Henderson
Football: Molde owners will support me if I stay at
Valencia secured Champions League football for the second year in a row by winning 2-0 at Real Valladolid on Saturday, clinching fourth place in La Liga at the expense of Getafe who drew 2-2 at
Valencia clinch Champions League spot, Getafe in Europa
BOURNEMOUTH, United Kingdom (AFP) — Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala's family grieved on Friday after British authorities formally identified his body as the one recovered from the wreckage of
Family mourn Sala after body in Channel wreckage identified
Football: New favourites Liverpool face two stiff tests of
Premier League investigates Man City over FFP allegations. Reuters. 8 March 2019. Reblog. Share. Tweet. Share. Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth v Manchester City - Vitality
Pep Guardiola on Juventus, Man City FFP allegations, Antoine
Lionel Messi is back but Lionel Scaloni's Copa squad is littered with new faces. Messi the one constant in a much-changed Argentina squad for Copa America and he has surely played a key
Lionel Messi in 2018: Another underrated year for the little
Ronaldo return looms large over Juve's European hopes
Juve foiled by Gervinho brace after leading 3-1 Advertisement MILAN, Feb 3: Parma forward Gervinho scored twice as his team hit back from 3-1 behind on Saturday to draw 3-3 at Serie A leaders Juventus who dropped points for only the third time in the league this season.
Solskjaer aims for 3rd. The Manchester United goal machine under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has gone quiet of late. During their run of four defeats in five games in all competitions, Marcus Rashford
Solskjaer aims for 3rd - theworldnews.net
Solskjaer extends perfect record as Manchester United beat
0 comments:
Post a Comment