The last big shock of the calendar year in Ligue 1 took place this Wednesday at the Stade Louis II. It was absolutely not to be missed. AS Monaco and PSG engaged in a spectacular showdown, worthy of what a match between the leader and 3rd in the championship must offer. And in the end, at the end of this enticing fight, it was the French champions who won (4-2). The game changed towards the end, with a victorious helmet strike from returning Gonçalo Ramos (84th) receiving a corner.
Letexier off topic!
For this advanced part of the 16th trick, all the ingredients of a great match were there. Great play, goals, intensity, commitment and even contentious actions. In the eyes of Parisian players, there are many who were a little too much. Mr. Letexier’s refereeing was far from convincing and without him it is certain that their evening would have been less stressful.
While in the past he has often been very severe in his decisions, as during the last OM – PSG classic, Letexier this time showed incredible laxity. His most questionable decision? The choice not to send off Wilfried Singo in the 22nd minute for a big foul on Gianluigi Donnarumma was incomprehensible. Even involuntary, this gesture, where he wiped his crampons on the Italian goalkeeper’s face, was extremely dangerous. The last Italian rampart did not recover, forced to immediately give up his place to Matvey Safonov. In the absence of a direct red, yellow – Singo’s second in this case – would have largely imposed itself.
If it was only this odd Letexier, we could almost have passed it over in silence. But no, he was the author of other questionable whistles, often to the disadvantage of PSG. Monaco remained with 11 men on the pitch, while at least two of their players could have been sent off.
Monaco’s vain start
Obviously, the ASM had nothing to do with the poor refereeing performance of the day. Adi Hutter’s men took advantage of the circumstances to get back into a match that was going badly for them. At the break, they were a goal behind following a goal from Désiré Doué, who scored on an excellent pass from Achaf Hakimi. And the result could have been more consistent if the same Hakimi had found the net and not the post in the 4th, and if Kohn had not intervened on a rebound from Barcola (6th).
With a goal behind at half-time, ASM stayed in the game. And he took advantage of it when he returned from the locker room to turn everything around. The locals first obtained a penalty in the 53rd after a handball from Marquinhos. Eliesse Ben Seghir transformed without trembling. Then, almost immediately (60th), Breel Embolo got ahead of Safonov to catch a pass from Akliouche.
PSG more resilient
Trailing and faced with contrary events, Paris could have panicked. It was nothing of the sort. This is where all the merit that the Ile-de-France team had in this match lies. With her back to the wall, she knew how to react to set the record straight. His luck is to have returned to 2-2 quite quickly thanks to Ousmane Dembélé (64th). The French international scored from close range, after a long shot from Fabian Ruiz. Then, at a time when we thought that the parity score would sanction this match, Ramos rose into the air to offer victory to his team. The Portuguese then demonstrated that a real new one could actually be useful sometimes.
The last ten minutes of the match saw ASM fight back in the hope of getting back on track once again. In vain. Minamino (86th, 91st), twice, missed the boat in a favorable position. In the end, it was even Paris who added to the score through Dembélé in stoppage time. Luis Enrique’s team won and there was a certain justice in what the capital’s team emerging victorious from this confrontation. This success, built through pain, does him a world of good, both mentally and mathematically. For Monaco, this is a new setback. The princely team will barely be able to console themselves, telling themselves that they will be entitled to a rematch on January 5 during the Champions Trophy.
