PSG won 2-1 against Nice in a long undecided game. Review of the individual performances of Parisians, on a case-by-case basis.
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Navas : For his return to the Parisian goal, he was unable to keep it inviolate after three scoreless matches, but it was not for nothing and the opponent was of better quality. Nice, however, did not ask much during the first part of the match, scarcely framing, then the Parisian goalkeeper was literally shot on the equalizer. He will then, obviously, make a decisive save by deflecting Gouiri’s strike on the bar with his fingertips but will have nothing significant to manage thereafter. A return probably frustrating for him, but at least without physical concern.
Sweeper: The German defender was back on the right side and he was much better there than lately in the center, which is not really a performance criterion either. Defensively, he alternated a rather good first period with a start to the second where he finds himself in difficulty against Gouiri, especially in the duels where he will suffer. Not always dominated but not necessarily more often the winner, he will regularly have difficulty in the face of the movements of the very elusive Lyon winger. Offensively, he signed an excellent cross on the opening goal but was not always so precise. On the other hand, his short raises were rather clean. On his scale, his match looks like a rebound, but especially the confirmation that he is more comfortable in the corridor than in the axis.
Marquinhos: The Parisian captain delivered his worst game of the season, by far. It was not only his huge error in relaunching the equalizer that made his match questionable, but his entire performance, already before this error. Not at ease with Gouiri and Maolida who were hanging out in the same area, he will do well with some good interventions thanks to his reading skills but is also regularly in difficulty. After his mistake, he tried to make up for it by putting a lot of energy into his game but it only partially worked.
Kimpembe: Associated with Marquinhos, he did not shine as much as usual even if he was less in difficulty than his partner in central defense. In particular, he was a little too spectator a few times when Rony Lopes arrived thrown in front of him but he generally held the shock. It was especially in the recovery, his usual strong point, that he was hampered, as targeted by the Niçois who alternated intense pressing and cut pass lines concerning him. It will take a while to get used to it, only finding its forward game at the end.
Kurzawa: Left at rest against Caen, the side did not really seem in good shape, as evidenced by his enormous difficulties in finishing the first half with returns that he could not really make in time. He will have tried a lot to bring on his side but has succeeded little, with the exception of an excellent center after the locker room. Defensively, he also alternated good and bad periods. It was also often at the start of half-time that he was interesting, suffering the more time passed. The sign of a player not 100%?
Bakker Substituted him for the last 20 minutes, rather than Diallo who could also have come in, and he assured defensively above all, offering very little to move forward as the outcome of the game was undecided.
Gueye : Back in the starting lineup, the Senegalese mainly took care of the defensive part of his role and he was very efficient there. He is particularly excellent on the first goal, scratching a ball before improving it, but is lost in the wake with a loss of ball which could have been expensive. Visibly affected, he struggles for a quarter of an hour but regains all his impact after the break and he signs an excellent second half. In a game that went from goal to goal, he was able to show all his qualities and his dejection, relieving his defense on numerous occasions. With the ball, he was often careful and sometimes even too careful, like this forward pass that he refuses to do at the start of the action leading to the equalizer. This does not affect the overall very good quality of his match.
Walls : The Argentine was, in a way, the mirror of Gueye’s match: transparent without the ball and incredible with it. Obviously very involved in possession, he will give incredible balls to his partners throughout the match: openings, reversals, slapped passes on the ground, he will have tried everything and succeeded a lot. The problem remains that the second half was played much less with the ball in his feet and that Paredes suffered greatly from the profile and the pace of the match, failing to change them by putting the foot on the leather. He did not brake practically any against and had a defensive impact overall very average.
Danilo He replaced him for the last few minutes, bringing his presence in front of the defense. He also played a conservation ball poorly in stoppage time, catching it soon after.
Kean : For the first time at kickoff, Pochettino had given him a lane, the right, and he will have trouble animating it, especially because PSG leans a lot to the left. While he is only too rarely going to manage to be thrown deep, it is therefore in the feet that he is served most of the time and does not really manage to launch towards the goal, losing a few balls. Yet it is he who succeeds in an excellent back-to-back sequence then in front of goal on the first goal, but this will be more of an exception than the rule. Not always easy to serve either from the areas where he is positioned, he will long seek his best place and has existed on some good individual actions more than through good connivance with his teammates. As he finished the match on the left, he scored a decisive goal by being present in the right place to conclude. If his offensive performance will have alternated between the very good and the passable, his defensive investment will have on the other hand been a model with several important returns and constant pressure.
Herrera He replaced him for the end of the match, the time to run the ball and take a warning to save time.
Draxler: Positioned in a role of a very free central attacking midfielder who must have reminded him of his best season at Schalke, the German who celebrated his second consecutive tenure will achieve a good first period in this role. If he weighs in an alternative way, he is often interesting in his diagonal passes to Mbappé and he is also a scorer by being opportunistic and precise, three days after a similar goal unfairly refused. The problem arose in the second half, when Pochettino replaced him on the left. The German will no longer exist at all: defensively absent, offensively lost, a real mess that will last until his exit and ruins the hopes born of his first act.
Sarabia replaced him and he positioned himself on the right. Still a bit messy, he had a good run with the ball but was sometimes a little slow to pass it on.
Mbappé: Without Di Maria and Neymar, he was inevitably eagerly awaited but he played a little too much like them, forgetting his qualities too much. Over-solicited Neymar way, he also played far too much with the ball which came to him stopped in his feet. Mbappé therefore tried a lot to speed up, to provoke and to make a difference on his own but he succeeded very little, Pelmard doing the job overall. He also tried his luck a lot but his strikes were never on target and his best action will probably remain his center towards Icardi on 2-1. Defensively, he defended a bit early in the game but then left Kurzawa alone against Lopes, Pelmard not daring to go up. Long awaited, he therefore tried to assume his responsibilities but in the end did not really play on his strongest qualities, which is a shame.
Icardi: The Argentinian will hit the post on what was practically his first ball, in fact the second, and his first act will still be a long moment of loneliness given his very low collective involvement. After the break, he finally weighs a little more, offering himself in particular to play in support of long balls, but he is not very inspired in his choice of game and only helps very little. It is therefore a nice paradox to see him achieve this absolutely perfect delivery after a particularly aerial and complicated technical gesture on the goal of 2-1. In the pressing, however, he will have been constant and consistent, which is to his credit.
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