Paris Saint-Germain signed a resounding success in Lyon, this Sunday, at the end of the 4th day of Ligue 1 (4-1). In the wake of a Mbappé author of a double, everyone shone.
Having become a sort of FC Hollywood for a summer, PSG have found their daily bread to immerse themselves definitively in their season. Paris remains Paris, with its charm, its vices and its virtues, but there floats over the capital a wind of enthusiasm that we hadn’t felt for a while. Because a good part of the team has already changed. And because the contours of the project have been redrawn.
The victory against Lens announced a start to the series to allow the French champions to quickly find a ranking more in line with their rank. It was still necessary to confirm it in Lyon. OL are a team at the bottom of the hole, Luis Enrique’s men approached this gala evening with a favorite costume. They not only imposed their law, but they did better than that. Methodical, generous, serious, inspired too, when it was necessary to add the little spark to improve a lesson recited academically, the Parisians left no chance to an opponent immersed in its meanders.
A lightning PSG
Luis Enrique had chosen continuity, in the animation as in his starting lineup. Although Gonçalo Ramos is back on his feet, Marco Asensio continued to accompany the Mbappé and Dembélé arrows, while waiting for Kolo Muani to reform the attack of the Blues, in the long term. Barcola, a nugget from Lyon who went to the enemy, was also on the bench after hearing the buzz of whistles during the warm-up.
Aggressive in their pressing under the impetus of the tireless balloon scraper Manuel Ugarte, the French champions quickly sought to confiscate the leather. The plan was clear: suffocate OL to find an opening as quickly as possible. It only took a few seconds to put theory into practice. A spurt from Ugarte, precisely, and Mbappé opened the scoring to transform the penalty obtained by the Uruguayan (0-1, 3rd).
Stung, Cherki and his teammates tried to revolt, but he missed a lot to hope to look this PSG in the eye. Efficiency, clairvoyance, a bit of vice. He lacked strong men, too, starting with captain Alexandre Lacazette, still suspended. So Paris recited her scales. In the width, in the depth, with a compass in the eye and a Cartesian organization which sometimes came close to perfection in the use of the ball. Hakimi doubled the bet after an acceleration of a very structured Dembélé in his game (0-2, 20th). Incarnation of the studious student, Asensio was his pawn there – the second in three games – by opening his velvet left foot for the 3-0 (40th).
Perhaps most strikingly, this new PSG is indeed a team with a capital E. Not everything is perfect and Donnarumma recalled that he was a formidable goalkeeper on his line when Paris went through some turbulence , but there emerges from this collective a feeling of steamroller where even the soloist Mbappé seems to blend. The Bondy prodigy loves OL. He’s his favorite victim. He proved it again by showering Groupama a fourth time just before half-time, on a cross shot that licked the post after a well-executed counter (0-4, 45th + 2). Twelve career goals against such a cador. It’s very strong.
The second act was unbridled and choppy, the tension building as the minutes ticked by. Above all, the lines stretched and this configuration seemed to do the business of PSG, which remained in its rapid attack mode. But Mbappé or Dembélé were a little less precise, knocking on wood when the frame opened. For their part, the Lyonnais will have had the merit of saving their honor on a peno converted at the end of the match by Tolisso (1-4, 74th). Sure of its strength, PSG therefore signs a second success in a row against a large engine. For OL and Laurent Blanc, the next few hours promise to be very hectic.
