Ligue 1: quickly reduced to 10, PSG wins in Le Havre and consolidates its throne as leader

After snatching a point from the unexpected draw at the Parc des Princes against Newcastle in the Champions League (1-1), Paris Saint-Germain had to consolidate its throne as leader and thus widen the gap with its runner-up, OGC Nice, beaten in Nantes on Saturday evening. This involved a trip to the Océane stadium to face Le Havre, ninth before this meeting. The Spanish technician Luis Enrique lined up an unprecedented eleven, with a tinkered defense: Nordi Mukiele joined Danilo Pereira in central defense while Carlos Soler, who had become the knife of his coach and compatriot, occupied the left-back position. And the start of the match for the capital club was close to a nightmare. On a corner poorly managed by the Parisian defense, Gautier Lloris was defeated by Soler, heroic in front of his line (7th). Spanish midfielder Fabián Ruiz twisted his shoulder and had to leave his team a few moments earlier, before being taken off the edge of the field on a stretcher (8th).

Two minutes later, Gianluigi Donnarumma was guilty of a murderous exit on Josue Casimir outside the area, forcing the referee to bring out the red to reduce PSG to 10. To have a last defense, the Parisian coach took out Bradley Barcola, starting for only the fifth time in L1, to offer his first to Arnau Tenas, who arrived this summer free from FC Barcelona. And if the capital club could seem diminished against the locals, Ousmane Dembélé found Kylian Mbappé lethal at the entrance to the zone of truth. The Parisian captain used the left post of Arthur Desmas, although decisive in front of Dembélé (20th), to shake the net and open the score for his team (1-0, 23rd), for his 15th goal in the championship. The star striker was even close to scoring a double after the first half hour, but his illegal position at the start of the action canceled the break goal (32nd).

The poorly paid Ciel et Marine

In the other area before the break, Casimir played Achraf Hakimi with nice control but crossed his left shot too far against Tenas (42nd). Returning from the locker room, the Catalan goalkeeper finally proved decisive in front of his line by slamming Yassine Kechta’s half-volley attempt (51st). The Hacmen got their foot on the ball (more than 80% of possession from the 45th to the 55th) attempted several crosses at the start of the second half, in the game or on set pieces, but no offensive player was really present to cut the trajectory and undermine the red-and-blue rearguard. Unlike his Italian counterpart, Desmas came out of his area well to cover the depth and anticipate Mbappé’s call (57th). The former Clermontois was then happy to see Dembélé’s cross shot hit his right post (60th). On a returning cross deflected by Danilo, Tenas made a reflex parade to calm the Norman enthusiasm (64th).

The Portuguese defender played his role as savior to perfection, there to intervene before the opponent’s last gesture (68th, 69th). Always dangerous on the counter, Vitinha saw Christopher Operi cut his cross at the last moment for Dembélé (70th). During the last quarter of an hour, Nabil Alioui (76th) and Antoine Joujou (83rd) narrowly missed the Parisian target, while Tenas worked three times to keep his clean sheets (77th, 85th). Mbappé was still held in check by Desmas’ left foot from a tight angle in the area (88th), before Vitinha finally sealed the Parisian victory with a beautiful, slightly deflected shot outside the area (2-0, 89th). ). The four minutes of added time changed nothing in the final score (2-0). Outnumbered for more than 80 minutes, PSG won in Normandy and are now four points ahead of Nice. Le Havre, for its part, continues a third match without a victory and remains stuck at the bottom of the first part of the table.