Paris (AFP)
Already headed to Barcelona?
Without Neymar and without brio, Paris SG beat Nice 2-1 on Saturday for the 25th day of Ligue 1, temporarily joining Lille in the lead without reassuring themselves before their European shock against Barça on Tuesday.
Certainly, victory is at the rendezvous for the Parisians, who dodged new injuries and avoided any unwelcome misstep just before their big meeting against FC Barcelona on Tuesday evening in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
But Mauricio Pochettino's team was long battered by Nice at the Parc des Princes, despite the opening scoring of Julian Draxler, who followed well after an attempt by Mauro Icardi on the post (22nd).
Without Neymar (adductor) or Di Maria (thigh), we expected a lot the flashes of Kylian Mbappé.
The latter signed a few raids where he showed his running speed but he failed to protect PSG (39th).
And in the second half, the Nice took advantage: Rony Lopes first sent a strike just above and then, a few moments later, hit the mark with a powerful shot entered with the help of the bar (50th) after a catastrophic revival of the Parisian captain Marquinhos.
Not very reassuring before facing Lionel Messi and others ...
The Azuréens could even have taken the advantage if Amine Gouiri's attempt had not failed on the bar (61st), diverted by the essential goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
At the end of the game, while Paris suffered, it was Moise Kean who freed his team with a head at close range on a splendid and uncontrolled handover from Icardi, involved in the two goals of his team (76th).
Either the 10th goal this season in L1 for the Italian striker and a big relief for Paris before Barcelona ...
This success allows PSG (54 pts) to temporarily join the lead Lille (54 pts), opposed Sunday to Brest (5:00 p.m.).
For its part, Lyon (3rd, 52 pts) could provisionally take control in the standings in the event of success in the evening against Montpellier (9:00 p.m.).
© 2021 AFP