Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Spherical 19, 25/01/25
PSG have been held to a draw by Luka Elsner’s Reims aspect. In-form PSG winger Ousmane Dembélé opened the scoring, courtesy of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, however the guests responded by way of Keito Nakamura. Second-placed Marseille can reduce PSG’s result in seven factors.
The Match
Sandwiched between , PSG’s dwelling Ligue 1 recreation towards Reims served as one of the best alternative for Luis Enrique to area Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as Les Parisiens‘ €70m signing is ineligible to characteristic within the UCL group stage. The Spaniard tweaked his aspect with a again three when in possession, with right-back Warren Zaïre-Emery slotting in his most well-liked midfield space.
PSG dominated possession, pinning Reims in their very own half. The guests struggled to comprise the hosts’ press. Reims head coach Luka Elsner had Yehvann Diouf to thank for because the goalkeeper was imperious to disclaim Gonçalo Ramos not as soon as however twice within the first half.
As half-time beckons, Reims grew in confidence and located some flaws in transition. Keito Nakamura beat the offside lure however Gianluigi Donnarumma stood agency to parry his effort away.
Minutes into the second half, PSG opened the scoring and Kvaratskhelia performed a giant half in doing so. The Georgia worldwide darted from the left to play a intelligent one-two with Désiré Doué earlier than feeding his reverse quantity, Ousmane Dembélé, whose strike took a heavy deflection from Cédric Kipré on his approach dwelling.
Reims restored parity solely ten minutes after Dembélé’s opener. The wonderful Diouf noticed Nakamura had yards of house on PSG’s proper aspect and launched him swiftly. The Japan worldwide discovered his fellow countryman, Junya Ito, whose cross was well deflected by Marshall Munetsi for Nakamura to use a fragile bottom-corner curling end previous Donnarumma.
The pressure from PSG’s grueling midweek Champions League win towards Manchester Metropolis was keenly felt as Les Parisiens’ depth ranges dropped a bit. Luis Enrique additionally took the freedom to experiment with Kvaratskhelia going from the left wing to a false 9 function and ultimately to the bench with the Spaniard counting on a entrance three of Doué, Asensio and Barcola to power a win.
Reims held agency to go away Parc des Princes with a degree, turning into the second Ligue 1 aspect to take action this season after Nantes. With Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos and João Neves all rested earlier than PSG’s probably season-defining Champions League tie at Stuttgart, Les Parisiens may see their lead reduce to 7 factors tomorrow evening.
PSG participant rankings
Gianluigi Donnarumma – 6
Warren Zaïre-Emery – 4
Lucas Beraldo – 4
Lucas Hernandez – 5
Nuno Mendes – 5
Kang-in Lee – 5
Fabian Ruiz – 4
Désiré Doué – 5
Ousmane Dembélé – 6
Gonçalo Ramos – 4
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – 6
A promising debut from the Georgia worldwide. For his first begin in almost a month following his Napoli exit, the No. 7 has seemed a voluntary however rusty outlet down PSG’s left wing. He registered his first aim contribution, an help for Dembélé. Changed as a false 9 earlier than making approach for Marco Asensio within the closing ten minutes.
Chosen Reims participant rankings
Yehvann Diouf – 7
The Reims goalkeeper arguably produced the sport’s finest efficiency. He prevented Ramos from punishing a mistake from Kipré and got here up huge to deflect one other of his makes an attempt on his submit. There’s little he may have completed about Dembélé’s aim, however he initiated the transition that led to Nakamura’s equalizer.
Keito Nakamura – 6
Marshall Munetsi – 6
GFFN | Bastien Cheval