These are two extremes that met on Sunday for the 21e Ligue 1 day; Paris, then first in the championship, moved to Lorient, 19e.
If the victory of the Parisians seemed logical, the match was quite different on the field. Paris scored its only two goals from the penalty spot, by Neymar. Behind they were punished by Yoane Wissa (80e ) then Terem Moffi in added time (90e +1).
Above all, this is the club’s first defeat since the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino on the bench. If the coach speaks of an “accident” in Lorient, that is not everything.
And the absences of Marco Verratti and Abdou Diallo, positive for the Covid, as well as Marquinhos and Navas, packages for this trip, do not explain all the poor performance of the Parisians on Sunday. The “Fantastic Four”, present on the field, did not show much against well organized Lorient.
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A defeat that makes the business of Lille and Lyon
Above all, this defeat does not reassure the state of form of the Parisians who will have in their sights the Classico on February 7 at the Vélodrome. On the move in a sick and chaotic Marseille, this clash between the two sworn enemies of French football promises to be hot.
However, there are those who have reason to rejoice in a Parisian failure. Lille, surely warned of the Parisian underperformance, only needed a goal to dominate Dijon. A victory which allows him to reach 48 points and relegate the club from the capital to 3e championship place.
The second is occupied by Lyon. The Lyonnais won in Bordeaux (2-1) Friday at the opening of the 22e day. With 46 points, Rudi Garcia’s players are only two lengths behind Lille, and one point ahead of Paris. The next meetings will be scrutinized with attention on Wednesday, where Paris will have to recover against Nîmes.
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