Paris Saint-Germain traveled this Saturday afternoon to the Strasbourg pitch, at the Meinau stadium, for the 7th day of Ligue 1. Between two gala European meetings against Manchester City and FC Barcelona, Luis Enrique’s men had to return to the daily routine of the championship and try to climb the rankings, they who were in sixth place before kick-off. Opposite, Hugo Oliveira’s Racing, twelfth with seven points, hoped to take advantage of their audience to revive momentum after two consecutive defeats. For this meeting refereed by Willy Delajod, the Alsatians presented themselves in 4-2-3-1 with Giovanni Reyna as playmaker behind Conrad Harder, while Luis Enrique had largely rotated his squad, with notably Matvey Safonov in goal, Warren Zaire-Emery as captain and Ferran Torres up front.
Despite a clear domination in possession, PSG was surprised by Strasbourg’s realism. The Parisians, however, quickly put pressure on the goal of Filip Jörgensen, who notably intervened on a header from Ferran Torres (11th), while Lucas Hernandez missed a great opportunity from a corner. But Strasbourg gradually found space and Giovanni Reyna ended up opening the scoring in the 17th minute. Well served by Gessime Yassine, the American infiltrated the area before deceiving Safonov with a left shot, deflected by Hernandez. The Alsatians then continued to be dangerous, forcing the Parisian goalkeeper to intervene in front of Oso (24th), while PSG struggled to accelerate despite their 77% possession at the break. Uninspired in the last gesture, the French champions returned to the locker room with a goal behind.
Dembélé scorer and passer
Upon returning from the locker room, Strasbourg even almost doubled the bet. Conrad Harder first came up against Safonov in the 47th minute, before seeing the Russian goalkeeper make a decisive save on his head three minutes later. Faced with his team’s difficulties, Luis Enrique quickly launched Nuno Mendes, Vitinha and Désiré Doué, then Achraf Hakimi and Ousmane Dembélé on the hour mark. The newcomers gradually breathed new life into the Parisian attack, but Harder again found the post with a left-footed shot in the 67th minute. The turning point finally came a few moments later, when the referee, called by video assistance, awarded a penalty to PSG. Dembélé was responsible for shooting it in the 72nd minute, but his powerful attempt from the right flew off target and ended up in the outside net. A golden opportunity missed for the Parisians, who however continued to push.
PSG ended up being rewarded for their efforts in the last quarter of an hour. In the 77th minute, Dembélé made up for it by delivering a precise cross from the right side, taken at point blank range by Illia Zabarnyi, completely forgotten by the Alsatian defense. Relaunched, the Parisians continued their pressing and took the advantage in the 85th minute. On an aerial opening, Hakimi fought to bring the ball down the axis, where Dembélé recovered the leather before advancing to the entrance to the area and deceiving Jörgensen with a low left shot. Strasbourg did not give up and tried to react in the final minutes, while Désiré Doué forced the Danish goalkeeper to work in the 90th minute. The end of the match was also marked by a very late intervention by Mitchell on Maghnes Akliouche, who remained on the ground off the field, or the exit due to injury of Nuno Mendes. On a final counter, Désiré Doué went for his goal to complete the success. PSG finally reversed a poorly started situation at Meinau to win (1-3), thanks to three goals scored in the last thirteen minutes.
