Long trailed by Newcastle, PSG secured a draw thanks to a penalty from Mbappé (1-1). He remains master of his destiny.
Forced to win so as not to find themselves in a bad position in their Champions League group, PSG did not go far from the correctional court. Faced with Newcastle, who had beaten them at Saint-James Park, the Parisians were going to turn the other cheek. They finally avoided defeat which would have been almost synonymous with elimination thanks to Kylian Mbappé. Transparent for the vast majority of the game, the Bondynois ensured the parity score by converting a penalty in the 96th minute.
Isak cooled the Park
It was to be the evening when Paris had to get everyone to agree and reestablish the hierarchy. In the end, the Ile-de-France team only confirmed the doubts we had about it. And this time, she doesn’t even have the card of a hostile atmosphere to brandish as an excuse. In his stronghold of Parc, Enrique’s gang failed for a long time, unable to overcome the late goal conceded at the start of the game.
The match would perhaps have taken a different turn if Nick Pope had not opposed a backheel from Kylian Mbappé (9e). A golden opportunity that the French champions bitterly regretted when Alexander Isak came to open the scoring for the Magpies (24e). The Swede took advantage of a ball released by Gianluigi Donnarumma on a strike from Miguel Almiron to put his team on the right track.
photo credit: Panoramic
Mbappé and all his PSG teammates were helpless against Newcastle.
A Paris without reaction
This opportunity was almost the only one that PSG conceded in the entire game. But it was expensive. Because the wait-and-see attitude of the defense on the action leading to the goal was then followed by the ineffectiveness of the offensive sector. Paris dominated and laid siege to the Toons’ goals, but they were not able to get back on track.
Ousmane Dembélé saw one of his strikes repelled by Schar in the 32ndebefore missing the frame closely (82e). In the second half, it was Bradley Barcola who harvested the most (65th, 67th and 92nd). As for Mbappé, until his saving penalty, he remained quite discreet. The captain of the Blues was also unable to get rid of the strict marking that was imposed on him. The only time he escaped (88th), he found the unsinkable Pope on the trajectory.
⌛️ It’s over at the Park. Paris Saint-Germain snatches a point in added time and retains second place in Group F.
🔴🔵#PSGNEW 1️⃣-1️⃣ I #UCL pic.twitter.com/2fTno1G1qb
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) November 28, 2023
Two penalties not whistled for PSG
The Parisians can thank Mr. Marciniak for the help in stopping the game. That said, it was not stolen. In addition, the Pole could have whistled a penalty in their favor on two other occasions (70e and 73e), but he refrained from doing so. His colleagues in the VAR challenged him, before sticking to the initial judgment. To the great dismay of Parisian supporters.
The future will tell us whether these decisions will have serious consequences. But, whatever the case, Paris did not show enough to win. The draw gleaned is still a lesser evil. A victory on the last day against an already qualified Dortmund and they will be sure to invite themselves into the 8th.
