Paris beaten in Marseille
Men's football•
In a keenly fought Classique, Paris Saint-Germain were beaten by the smallest of margins (1-0) by an opportunistic Olympique de Marseille.
Just a few days after their triumphant return to the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain were back in Ligue 1 action with a top-of-the-bill encounter: the Classique in Marseille.
Luis Enrique lined up captain Marquinhos, Illia Zabarnyi and Willian Pacho in a back three in front of Lucas Chevalier. At wing-back were Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes with Vitinha in front of the back line and Warren Zaïre-Emery and Fabian Ruiz in midfield. Up front, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was alongside Gonçalo Ramos.
From the off, commitment was the watchword of both teams. And though Paris won the majority of the duels, Marseille opened the scoring thanks to Nayef Aguerd’s header (1-0, 5’).
But the capital club kept their cool and control of the game. Vitinha forced a first save from Geronimo Rulli (17'), but Marseille made the most of the little possession they had and Chevalier was called into action to turn aside Amine Gouiri's powerful effort (25').
The two teams went toe-to-toe, and Kvaratskhelia powered past Benjamin Pavard before firing an effort wide (31') as neither side was able to add to the scoreline before the break.
Just before the hour mark, Kvaratskhelia weaved his way into the penalty area but saw his shot blocked and Hakimi drove an effort on target from distance that had Rulli scrambling to turn behind for a corner (59'). The capital club upped the pressure, and Ramos climbed above Leonardo Balerdi but could get the desired direction on his header (65').
With Vitinha as industrious and inventive as ever, Paris threw the kitchen sink at their opponents in the closing stages, but even the Portugal international's efforts (72', 86' & 87') were not enough as Paris Saint-Germain were defeated for the first time this season.
Our Rouge et Bleu, who remain joint-league leaders with AS Monaco, will attempt to bounce back this weekend when they host AJ Auxerre at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.