There was Ligue 1 action this Wednesday evening with the advanced match of the 16th day of Ligue 1 between PSG and AS Monaco. Leader, the capital club had the opportunity to take the lead a little further in the event of victory on Louis II’s lawn. For the occasion, Luis Enrique decided to line up a new, unique team with an attacking trio of Doué, Barcola, Dembélé but especially Joao Neves in a left-back role. In midfield, Fabian Ruiz replaced him in this position. An experimental team facing a classic ASM eleven with the offensive quartet Golovin, Akliouche, Ben Seghir and Embolo. And the match started very strongly with a first opportunity signed… Achraf Hakimi. The Moroccan international, second in the last African Ballon d’Or, sent a cross shot which ended its course on the post of Philipp Köhn who was beaten (3rd). A little shaken, Monaco responded straight away thanks to Eliesse Ben Seghir. The young Monegasque talent, after a solitary rush, fired a floating shot that Donnarumma could only box (8th).
Before that, Barcola also had an opportunity from a tight angle. But the first big play took place in the 18th minute. After a complicated start to the match marked by blunders, right-back Singo had the opportunity to redeem himself by appearing alone against Donnarumma. But the Ivorian pushed his ball too much and missed his dive. As he did so, his sole violently hit the face of the Italian goalkeeper, bloody and stunned. But referee François Letexier decided not to sanction Singo who already had a yellow card. Enough to provoke the anger of the Parisian players. After several minutes of hesitation, the match resumed and AS Monaco, asleep, was surprised. Achraf Hakimi, again, overflowed on his right lane and served Désiré Doué who only had to push the ball into the back of the net (1-0, 24th). A goal which also rewarded Parisian domination. Hakimi didn’t go far from the second goal with a long shot, just like Salisu after a defensive mistake. But as against OL a few days earlier, despite its superiority, PSG retreated and left spaces.
PSG flies to the top of Ligue 1
ASM took advantage of this when returning from the locker room by returning with better intentions. On a percussion from Akliouche, the ball fell on Pacho’s hand and the referee whistled a logical penalty. A penalty taken perfectly by Eliesse Ben Seghir (1-1, 52nd) despite good anticipation from Safonov. With confidence, Adi Hütter’s men even scored a second goal straight away. This time, it was Embolo who was slightly ahead of Pacho and placed the ball out of the goalkeeper’s reach (2-1, 60th). But this goal did not really raise doubts about PSG who equalized immediately, taking advantage of a new defensive generosity in this match. Fabian Ruiz’s shot was poorly repelled by Köhn. Dembélé took the opportunity to push the ball into the back of the net (2-2, 64th). Enough to offer a crazy end to the match between two teams who were going blow for blow in this match.
Despite the challenge, both formations left space behind the defenses. And after missing several opportunities, Monaco was punished. On a corner well struck by Kang-in Lee, it was the incoming Gonçalo Ramos who placed a helmet strike from close range (3-2, 82nd). A goal which this time was enough to take the three points because despite missed opportunities by Minamino or Akliouche, Monaco were unable to come back. It was even PSG who scored a new goal in added time through Ousmane Dembélé. The French international scored a double with a dive and sealed his team’s success (4-2, 90th+6). His 8th goal of the season in L1. With this success, PSG takes a 10-point lead over its evening opponent and over OM, second with a game in hand. Monaco may have regrets in this match and sees its title competitor moving away.
