Paris Saint-Germain deservedly lost for the first time in Ligue 1 this season when they went down 2-1 to Lyon at Groupama Stadium on Sunday.
Angel Di Maria opened the scoring inside the first 10 minutes but OL levelled through Parisien youth academy graduate Moussa Dembele before half-time and won it with a Nabil Fekir penalty early in the second half.
Positives
After such a disappointing performance, more so than the result, there were very few plus points. One that cannot be debated, though, is that Alphonse Areola was in fine form — despite an error for Lyon’s leveller — and that things could have gotten messy without him between the sticks. On top of that, Leandro Paredes made his PSG debut and luckily was not harmed by an appalling late Fekir tackle from behind.
Negatives
So many minus points. First and foremost, the result — to slip to a first Ligue 1 loss is such limp fashion was pathetic. Second half rally or not, Lyon could and should have been out of sight by half-time after a dominant first half the needed Areola to be at his absolute best to keep level. Second, the midfield was non-existent and Paredes’ full debut, as well as Marco Verratti‘s return from injury cannot come soon enough. Third and final, but by no means the only other negative, it is now 11 penalties and counting conceded by PSG across all competitions this season — 11!
Manager rating out of 10
4 — Thomas Tuchel went with a makeshift midfield as he felt that Paredes was not fit enough for his full debut and although he watched his team open the scoring, they were quickly overrun in midfield and changes took too long to arrive.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Alphonse Areola, 8 — Without him in goal, Lyon would have almost certainly won more comfortably and until his error in judgement presented Dembele with the equaliser, he was on course for an astonishing clean sheet. Despite the fact that OL scored twice, some of Areola’s saves were out of this world and came in short, sharp bursts.
DF Thilo Kehrer, 4 — Although solid at right-back, this match exposed his limits in the role and contributed towards a lack of penetration on both flanks.
DF Thiago Silva, 4 — One of his weakest outings all season and it was capped by conceding a soft second-half penalty.
DF Presnel Kimpembe, 5 — Struggled during the first half and picked up a booking, but was much, much better after the break until he made way for Paredes late on.
DF Juan Bernat, 4 — Like Kehrer, did not do enough on his side, so it felt like PSG lacked width over the 90 minutes.
MF Dani Alves, 3 — His worst display as a midfielder. Now that Paredes has signed and Verratti is on the mend, this experiment must be brought to an end — fast.
MF Marquinhos, 5 — Did what he could in defensive midfield but is so much better in his natural central defensive role that he feels wasted in the middle.
MF Julian Draxler, 6 — Teed Di Maria’s opener up and was booked late on in a mixed showing that could have been more consistent had his teammates showed up.
MF Angel Di Maria, 6 — Scored early on and was one of PSG’s main threats, particularly in the second half, along with Draxler.
FW Edinson Cavani, 3 — Struggled as his teammates found it tough to get past Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes more than once.
FW Kylian Mbappe, 4 — More of a threat than Cavani was but mostly because of his pace. Otherwise, he was subdued and looked lost without Neymar.
Substitutes
MF Leandro Paredes, NR — Given an 11-minute Ligue 1 debut in place of Kimpembe, he was fortunate that a dreadful Fekir tackle did not end his season prematurely.
FW Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, NR — Sent on for Cavani at the same time as Paredes, his physicality was not enough to break Lyon down for an equaliser.
DF Moussa Diaby, NR — Replaced Bernat at left-back for the final five minutes and did enough to suggest that he warranted longer on the pitch than he was granted.