The scoreboard will remember AS Monaco’s victory, but the Parisian locker room will remember the fear. Beyond PSG’s disappointing performance this Saturday evening in the Principality, it is an action that occurred at the start of the match that haunts people’s minds. On poorly controlled pressing, Lamine Camara wiped his crampons on Lucas Chevalier’s ankle. A gesture bordering on unconsciousness which only earned the Monegasque a yellow card. A refereeing leniency which provoked the cold anger of the goalkeeper and the disbelief of his bench.
Chevalier’s relief: being able to “continue playing football”
At the broadcaster’s microphone, the former Lille player did not seek to argue about the score, but he opened his bag regarding his physical integrity. “ I think today my career could have taken a turning point and I was very lucky,” he blurted out, visibly still in shock. For him, the miracle happened: his ankle held, but the trauma was there. He evokes “gestures that should be avoided”emphasizing that he is just relieved to be able to continue to “play football every week”. This is the speech of a player who knows that he has come within a few millimeters of the long-term infirmary.
Even Luis Enrique, usually impervious to refereeing controversies, had difficulty masking his amazement at the violence of the clash. “Chevalier was very lucky today… it’s incredible”slipped the Spanish technician on BeIN Sports, biting his lip to avoid slipping: “I won’t say anything more, because that’s not my job.” A facade restraint which completely validates the feelings of its goalkeeper: for the Parisian staff, this tackle was worth much more than a simple warning.
A Monegasque aggressiveness that questions
This scare revives bad memories for the capital club during its trips to the Rock. This is the second year in a row that a Parisian goalkeeper has suffered excessive aggression from a Monegasque player in his area. We remember Gianluigi Donnarumma, hit in the face by Wilfried Singo last December, a violent shock which left its mark. This recurrence, coupled with the laxity perceived this evening, leaves a bitter taste for Parisians, that of physical integrity put in danger without adequate sanction.
It now remains to monitor the physical condition of the Parisian goalkeeper in the days to come. “The ankle?” It could be better”he grimaced. If the luck invoked by Luis Enrique was there to avoid the fracture, the bruises are very real. Paris lost three points at Louis-II, but above all almost lost its last rampart for the rest of the season. And Chevalier and his coach wanted everyone to hear that.
