Without Neymar, suspended, Messi and Mbappé did the job in attack. PSG did not force his talent to maintain his invincibility.
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© PASCAL POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP
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Dtwo goals, one assist. Two assists, one goal. These are the statistics of Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi on Friday October 21, during the victory of PSG in Ajaccio, at the start of the 12th day of Ligue 1. The Frenchman scored twice on two perfect services from the Argentinian. And the latter was able to punctuate his beautiful evening with a goal, on a decisive pass from his teammate. The logic was respected and PSG won 3 goals to nil on the lawn of the François-Coty stadium.
The championship leader has been skating for several weeks and has no longer mastered operations in an implacable way. The trip to Corsica provided a new illustration of this and Christophe Galtier is no further ahead in his thinking after yet another messy production by his troops.
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Facing the 18th in the standings, we could have expected a Parisian demonstration, even in the absence of Neymar, suspended. But it is still a PSG that is too predictable and without genius who first got away with a classic and surgical counter-attack: a recovered ball and a deep pass from Lionel Messi for Mbappé (24th).
The Argentinian then quietly played the defense at the end of the match (79th) before Mbappé scored a second goal (82nd) to take the lead of the best fireworks in L1 with 10 units.
On a lawn in very poor condition, Paris only rarely proved dangerous, as if playing economy. An observation that has become recurrent, especially on the national scene where Galtier’s team sometimes gives the impression of being satisfied with only the essentials.
Unfazed Messi
The approach of the World Cup (November 20-December 18 in Qatar) and important European fixtures, against Maccabi Haifa (next Tuesday at the Parc des Princes) and Juventus (November 2 in Turin) in the Champions League , and fear of injury may explain a certain lack of involvement. But PSG are idling too slowly at the moment for the excuse to be totally valid.
Galtier, however, believed he had found the key by renewing the tactical scheme in 4-3-3 which had not worked too badly against OM (1-0) on Sunday. But if Marco Verratti and Fabian Ruiz, not far from being the best Parisian, did well in the middle, the performance of Renato Sanches, holder for the 2nd time of the season replacing Vitinha, preserved, was too any.
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As for the defense, still deprived of Presnel Kimpembe, recovering, Sergio Ramos, suspended, and Nuno Mendes and Danilo, injured, it sometimes wavered, especially in the first period when Paris was moved.
But above all, PSG could have taken cover more quickly without Mbappé’s approximations in the area. The world champion wasted two huge chances (36th, 57th) before ending up killing the game in the final moments.
Heckled by the public despite his double, Mbappé was eclipsed by Messi, the one that the whole public demanded throughout the evening. With a goal and two assists, “La Pulga” was like his start to the season, very strong. Something to excite the Ajaccio spectators: three children even entered the lawn during an interruption of the game to take selfies with the Argentinian, still so imperturbable.