Paris Saint-Germain ran into their second league defeat of the season so far on Saturday evening. The star ensemble of Mauricio Pochettino lost 3-1 to Nantes, which takes fifth place due to the victory. Neymar missed a penalty four days after Lionel Messi did the same in the Champions League game against Real Madrid (1-0 win). PSG are still well ahead in Ligue 1 with 59 points from 25 games. Number two Olympique Marseille is far from sight with 46 points from 24 matches.
After a tumultuous first half, Nantes led 3-0. The opening goal came in the fourth minute. Kylian Mbappe lost the ball on the edge of the Nantes penalty area, after which the home side quickly erupted. Moses Simon sent a through ball from the left flank, enabling strike partner Randal Kolo Muani to finish from close range through Keylor Navas’ legs. Quentin Merlin’s unparalleled shot made it 2-0: just inside the penalty area, he successfully fired a diagonal shot into the top left corner.
† † in Nantes.. ??
Gini Wijnaldum makes hands and Ludovic Blas makes no mistake from the spot: PSG’s billion-dollar team trailing 3-0??#ZiggoSport #Ligue1 #FCNPSG pic.twitter.com/D6PQU9xSLe— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) February 19, 2022
After half an hour, goalkeeper Navas prevented the 3-0 with a save on a shot by Moses in the short corner. The game looked to take a remarkable turn when Dennis Appiah was shown a red card for a foul on Mbappe. Referee Mikael Lesage seemed to assume that Mbappé had broken through, but was pointed out by his video referee that the reality was different. After reviewing the footage, Lesage withdrew his red card and Appiah was relieved to receive a yellow card.
The arbitration again favored Nantes well into injury time: after a header by Jean-Charles Castelletto, the ball landed on Georginio Wijnaldum’s arm, after which a penalty kick followed. Navas remained in the middle of Ludovic Blas’s bet and made the right choice, but was unable to turn the bet. At the start of the second half, PSG came back to 3-1 when Neymar received a splitting pass from Lionel Messi, cut out his guard and finished off. Appiah’s foul on Mbappe resulted in a penalty after an hour and a golden chance at 3-2, but keeper Alban Lafont had little trouble with Neymar’s weak attempt. In the remainder of the game, PSG put pressure on, but the visitors did not come back any further.
And the worst penalty of the year goes to… Neymar! †
The Brazilian can turn it into a competition again, but produces no more than a limp roller??#ZiggoSport #Ligue1 #FCNPSG pic.twitter.com/kyZKPHqiKF— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) February 19, 2022
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