Four days after their remarkable Champions League victory away at Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain were on the road again, this time in Nice for Matchday 27 of Ligue 1. In an Allianz Riviera buzzing with excitement, Les Rouge et Bleus were looking to reclaim top spot in the league against a OGCN side, themselves hoping to make it back-to-back victories.
The Parisians made a bright start and quickly took control of the ball, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia lively down the left-hand side: firstly, running onto a perfectly-timed pass from Désiré Doué (12’), and then beating Dante with skill and pace (19’) - on both occasions, the Georgia international unleashed a stinging left-foot shot only to be denied by a Yehvann Diouf. A few minutes later, the Senegalese goalkeeper made another save, this time blocking a header from Illia Zabarnyi, following a Vitinha free-kick (23’).
The Portuguese midfielder was once again pulling the strings when he released Doué in behind the Nice defence. The France international played it first time to Kvaratskhelia, but the forward’s header was cleared off the line by the retreating Juma Bah (37’). Paris finally translated their dominance onto the scoreboard just before half-time, when Nuno Mendes converted a penalty earned by Doué (0-1, 42')!
In a controlled first-half display, Les Rouge et Bleu had won two-thirds of their duels, despite the pressure of the Aiglons’ high pressing game. The capital club quickly doubled their lead at the start of the second half. From a Kvaratskhelia pass, Nuno Mendes broke into the Marseille box and Doué, who unleashed a powerful shot into the roof of the net (0-2, 49')!
Paris’s dominance grew even further when Youssouf Ndayishimiye was sent off on the hour mark for a dangerous tackle on Lee Kang-In (61’). The lively Doué twice came close to netting a brace (63’, 71’). In contrast, Dro Fernández, who had only just come on, took full advantage of good work from Vitinha and Ousmane Dembélé to score his very first professional goal (0-3, 81’)!
The European champions continued to attack and were rewarded with a fourth and final goal, scored by Warren Zaïre-Emery following a cross from Lucas Beraldo (0-4, 85’). At the end of a one-sided second half, Paris Saint-Germain secured a convincing victory on the French Riviera and reclaimed the top spot in Ligue 1 in the process!
It capped off a perfect week for Les Parisiens before heading off on the international break.
