Nantes (AFP)

Back to the field. Paris SG continued its march forward, in Nantes Tuesday in Ligue 1 (2-1), in the wake of its star Kylian Mbappé, who responded with a decisive pass to the controversy arising from his replacement last Saturday.

The race of Angel di Maria, arms open towards "Kyky", to celebrate the opening of the score will remain the image of the meeting, as the symbol of a united team after a weekend which has tested its resilience.

Three days after the unhappy image of his outing against Montpellier (5-0) which ignited the thesis of a conflict with his coach Thomas Tuchel, the French center-forward swapped his mask of sulky prodigy for that of altruistic leader .

In a club where each gesture can start a media fire, Mbappé set out to extinguish the embers, during a frosty evening where he knew he was expected.

Without Neymar, hit at the ribs, he tried to fill the void left by the Brazilian playing master by multiplying the overflows on the left wing, where his unique acceleration capacity brought constant danger.

This is how he found Di Maria, between four defenders, for the 1-0 - the shot of the Argentine being slightly deflected by Mauro Icardi (29th).

The young world champion only missed one goal, despite several occasions (61st, 72nd, 76th).

The unmatched performance by Mbappé allowed PSG to turn the page on a hectic weekend behind the scenes, between the attacker's exit and the birthday party, Sunday evening, of "Ney".

Tuchel, who complained that the attitude of the two stars obscured the excellent current results of his team, must be delighted to have weathered this storm without major damage.

On the field, PSG had a tenth consecutive success away from home in all competitions, which confirms its progress towards the knockout stage of the Champions League on February 18 in Dortmund.

- Decisive Navas -

Certainly, Nantes, 10th in Ligue 1, has nothing of the German team, except the yellow jersey and the kop of noisy supporters.

There are nevertheless interesting lessons to be learned for Tuchel. First, Icardi's goal, which ended a six-game streak without scoring - the longest since arriving in late August. The "Goleador" was not far from the double, without the reflex of Denis Petric (3rd).

Thilo Kehrer, header on a corner from Di Maria (57th), also found the nets for the first time since last April.

Less gratifying, the reduction of the Nantes score by Moses Simon (68th) also showed the limits in defense of the moment. It was following a huge mistake by Presnel Kimpembe that the Nigerian was able to go and beat Keylor Navas alone. The captain apologized to his teammates in the process.

But without Marquinhos, Thiago Silva or Abdou Diallo, all injured, Tuchel only counts the young Tanguy Kouassi as an alternative hinge, in an overloaded calendar which forces him to turn his workforce.

PSG ended the last twenty minutes by suffering, at the mercy of a Nantes counter. Navas, decisive, worked twice (86th, 90th) to avoid the equalization that would have sanctioned a dull end of the match for the Parisians, who already saw themselves in the locker room after the 2-0.

Against Lyon on Sunday, they will pass a new resistance test. They will know even more about their condition before the C1.

© 2020 AFP