PARIS (AFP) - Moussa Dembele scored and won a penalty as Lyon stunned Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 on Sunday (Feb 3) to end the runaway leaders' hopes of an unbeaten Ligue 1 campaign.
Angel di Maria fired PSG into a seventh-minute lead, but Dembele equalised and Nabil Fekir scored the winner from the spot three minutes after half-time.
"I don't know if the defeat was deserved. In the first half it was deserved, but after half-time, we still dominated," said PSG forward Kylian Mbappe.
The reigning champions remain 10 points clear of second-placed Lille at the top of the table despite the defeat, with two games in hand, while Lyon strengthened their grip on third spot, three points further back.
"We did what we had planned, namely high pressing, quick transitions, and to cause them problems every time we had the ball," said Lyon coach Bruno Genesio. "I don't think they're used to that in Ligue 1."
All eyes will now turn to the Champions League for PSG, with only a French Cup tie at third-tier Villefranche and a home game against Bordeaux to come before the last-16, first-leg clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Feb 12.
The English side's caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and assistant Mike Phelan were both in attendance at the Groupama Stadium on Sunday, just hours after their side's 1-0 Premier League win at Leicester.
The pair would have learnt plenty from watching Lyon regularly slice through the PSG defence against seemingly little resistance, while Mbappe shouldered the majority of the attacking responsibility in the absence of the injured Neymar.
"I'm not worried about the Champions League," insisted Mbappe. "We must take it match by match and wait for the Champions League."
On paper, this looked the toughest test remaining for PSG in their bid to go through the league season unbeaten, having won on just two of their previous 13 Ligue 1 visits to Lyon, losing seven.
But Thomas Tuchel's men almost forged ahead inside the first two minutes, as Kylian Mbappe raced clear only to shoot tamely at Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.
The away side did not have to wait long to strike, though, as Houssem Aouar carelessly gifted possession to Julian Draxler, who strode forward and teed up Di Maria to slot in his 10th goal of the season.
Lyon largely dominate
But Lyon, on a six-match unbeaten run in the league themselves, quickly improved and twice wasted clear-cut chances to level, as PSG 'keeper Alphonse Areola denied Bertrand Traore from point-blank range before Dembele nodded wide.
Areola had to be alert again, springing to his right to tip away a vicious long-range drive from Nabil Fekir, before producing a wonderful double stop from Traore and Memphis Depay.
However, just seconds after another excellent save to deny Fekir, Areola was totally at fault for Lyon's 33rd-minute equaliser.
The 25-year-old misjudged Leo Dubois' cross, allowing Dembele the simplest of tasks to head into the net.
PSG almost snatched a half-time lead against the run of play, but Lyon centre-back Jason Denayer made an incredible diving header to keep out Draxler's close-range shot.
Lyon, who face Barcelona in the Champions League knockout stage, continued to dominate after the restart, and were awarded a spot-kick when Dembele was brought down by Thiago Silva, with Fekir doing the rest.
That provoked PSG into life, and Lopes made two brilliant saves from Mbappe in the space of just 20 seconds.
Mbappe was PSG's best hope of salvaging their unbeaten record, but he saw Lopes divert away a low drive, before former Celtic striker Dembele wasted a golden opportunity to wrap up the points as he was again foiled by Areola.
But Lyon held on anyhow, ending their opponents' 21-game unbeaten run in the French top flight.
Guangzhou (AFP) - Nico Yennaris became the first foreign-born footballer to represent China when the former Arsenal reserve started in a 2-0 home win over the Philippines on Friday. The 26-year-old midfielder was born in London and was an England youth international, but his mother is Chinese and
London-born Yennaris makes China debut in Philippine win
worldsoccertalk.com/2019/06/07/london-born-yennaris-makes-china-debut-in-philippine-win/
London-born Yennaris makes China debut in Philippine win AFP June 7, 2019 AFP No Comments Guangzhou (AFP) - Nico Yennaris became the first foreign-born footballer to represent China when the former Arsenal reserve started in a 2-0 home win over the Philippines on Friday.
London-born Yennaris makes China debut in Philippine win
And it showed. We played hard for 48 minutes." Mike Conley had 11 points and seven assists for the Grizzlies in the opener of a four-game California trip. Last season they finished with a winning road record for the first time at 24-17, third-best in the NBA. "It felt good, especially being our first road win of the season," Randolph said.
FREE Online Website Malware Scanner | Website Security
Mourinho leaves United after two and a half years in charge and we are now looking at the highs of his Old Trafford tenure. Mourinho guided Manchester United to Community Shield success against
Jose Mourinho's record with Manchester United
Football: New FAS technical director Joseph Palatsides
Jose Mourinho rules himself out of Benfica job Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has ruled himself out of the vacant job at Benfica, saying he has no intention of coaching in his native Portugal for the time being.
José Mourinho breaks cover to rule himself out of Benfica
Griezmann calls time on Atletico stay as move to Barcelona looms MADRID • French striker Antoine Griezmann has told Atletico Madrid he will leave them in the close season, the Spanish club said on Twitter on Tuesday.
Antoine Griezmann admits move from Atletico Madrid is edging
Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu's
The most advanced kahoot smasher on the internet. Prank your friends and classmates by flooding a kahoot game with an infinite amount of bots. The only kahoot hack on the internet with 99.99% uptime.
Kahoot! Review for Teachers | Common Sense Education
World Cup: USWNT's Carli Lloyd is a 'game-changer' whether she's a starter or a substitute, Jill Ellis says The U.S. will open its 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup campaign against Thailand on Tuesday
USWNT coach Jill Ellis: Carli Lloyd is a 'game-changer
France midfielder Paul Pogba believes England's Raheem Sterling is sometimes treated differently by the British media because he is black and does not get the recognition he deserves for his achievements. Speaking ahead of France's Euro 2020 qualifier against Moldova on Friday, the Manchester
Man City's Sterling treated differently by British media
Manchester United: The five players who could be Solskjaer's first signing Rumours abound but we think these five players could be on the list to become Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first Manchester
Man City star David Silva explains how the scales of respect
Singapore Football News - Singapore international forward Ikhsan Fandi has signed a two-year contract with Norwegian second-tier side Raufoss, the club confirmed on Sunday morning (Singapore time).
Football: Ikhsan Fandi focused on task as he begins his
We now know that Tottenham are safely into the Emirates FA Cup quarter finals, but for anyone who missed their 6-1 win over Rochdale at Wembley, here are five things we learned from the game.
Dominic Solanke's hat-trick propels Chelsea to a 4-0 win over
0 comments:
Post a Comment