Just three days after being held to a 1-1 draw away to Lorient, Paris Saint-Germain returned to Ligue 1 action this evening at the Parc des Princes, where a Matchday 11 encounter against the in-form OGC Nice awaited them. Despite the visitors having regained some confidence with their recent results, however, their game plan was as clear as day: to sit deep with five defenders and four midfielders and to wait for Les Parisiens to attack.
Bradley Barcola was the first Paris player to register a shot on target in the 14th minute, shortly followed by similarly unsuccessful efforts from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Warren Zaïre-Emery and Achraf Hakimi, with Nice keeper Yéhvann Diouf relying on his defenders to block Les Rouge et Bleu's shots. At the other end of the pitch, it wasn't until the half-hour mark that Les Aiglons got themselves into an attacking position from a set piece, as Juma Bah encountered opposition from Kvaratskhelia in the six-yard box before Lucas Chevalier put a definitive end to the danger from the away side.
With the half-time break fast approaching, Paris's attacking trio was wreaking havoc upon OGCN's back line, as demonstrated by the aforementioned Barcola, who fired off a shot that Diouf managed to get himself in the way of. Then, faced with the compact unit that was gathered inside Le Gym's defensive third, João Neves tried his luck from outside the box seven minutes into the second half and saw his shot brush the opposition's woodwork. A quarter of an hour later, Vitinha decided to imitate his compatriot's effort and thereby forced Diouf into a brilliant stop.
Having been run ragged by Les Parisiens' high ball recoveries as well as the Parc des Princes crowd pushing its team forward in unison, Nice were at breaking point by the final 15 minutes of the match. In fact, on what was his 100th appearance for Les Rouge et Bleu, Gonçalo Ramos thought that he had put his side in front in the 80th minute, but his first-time, close-range strike failed to find the target. The centre-forward shone once more in the fourth minute of additional time, but Diouf's net again appeared to be impenetrable.
Then, from Paris's final opportunity of the game in the very same minute, Lee Kang-in's corner was headed towards the far post by Kvaratskhelia and finished off at point-blank range by that man Ramos! The no. 9's header not only made the Parc erupt but was also the perfect way for the Portugal international to celebrate reaching his century with the capital club.
After getting the better of Nice by gradually wearing them down, Les Parisiens have cemented their place at the top of the Ligue 1 table and will now be looking ahead to next Tuesday – Matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League – when they're set to welcome Bayern Munich to the Parc des Princes. See you then!
