Safonov, Zaïre-Emery, Zabarnyi, Pacho, Hernandez, Doué, Vitinha (C), Ruiz (Beraldo, 86'), Ferran (Ndjantou, 70'), Mayulu (Dro, 86'), Godts (Neves, 70').
A few days after their resounding victory away at Villarreal in the Champions League (0–6), Paris played their final Ligue 1 match before the international break, hosting Troyes. And to mark the 35th anniversary of the Virage Auteuil, the Rouge et Bleu carried the celebrations from the stands onto the pitch right from the opening minutes, with an unlucky Senny Mayulu seeing his first shot deflected onto the crossbar by Hillel Konaté (4'), only moments before hitting the post (5'). The tone was set, and ESTAC reacted immediately with a more compact and solid block in the centre.
The Aube side had, of course, prepared to sit back, but they remained on the lookout for the slightest opportunity on the counter-attack. Take Renaud Ripart, for example, who single-handedly led all of Troyes’ attacks (14th, 22nd, 28th). As for Luis Enrique’s men, they found it harder to break down the ESTAC defence. Shortly before half-time, Ferran was played in inside the opposition’s box and found himself one-on-one with Hillel Konaté, but the tight angle made it an easy save for the goalkeeper (38'). The resulting corner was taken quickly, with Illia Zabarnyi meeting Senny Mayulu’s cross to open the scoring with a header (1–0, 39')!
At the start of the second half, the pattern of the match appeared to be much the same: despite Paris’s goal, the visitors were still sitting deep, and the capital club retained control of the ball. That did not, however, prevent Troyes from posing a threat, with another attempt by Renaud Ripart sending shivers down the spines of the Parc des Princes crowd (54'). This time, ESTAC were determined to push higher up the pitch, leaving gaps for the Parisians to exploit. From the right flank, Désiré Doué found Warren Zaïre-Emery in the box, but his header across goal just grazed the post with Konaté beaten (59')..
Up against Ferran, however, the Burkinabé goalkeeper remained as solid as ever (67'). Luis Enrique then made changes up front and in midfield, hoping that the fresh legs of the substitutes would enable the Rouge et Bleu to pull away in the match. It wasn’t enough to break down a solid and tenacious Troyes side, who gave the Parisians a run for their money right up until the end of stoppage time. Yet, when the final whistle blew, it was Paris Saint-Germain who ran out deserved winners, securing their eleventh consecutive victory across all competitions!
Illia Zabarnyi on fire, scoring the only goal of the night at the Parc des Princes – his second Ligue 1 goal of the season!
