Paris Saint-Germain started 2023 with a defeat in Ligue 1. The French leader had to bow to RC Lens without Lionel Messi and Neymar: 3-1. Not Kylian Mbappé, but Loïs Openda became the big man of the evening. The former Vitesse mercenary scored the second goal for Lens and also acted as the last goal with a heel. Due to the defeat, PSG sees pursuer Lens on four points.
PSG still had to do without Messi in Lens, who has been enjoying his holiday for weeks after Argentina’s World Cup win. Due to the stupid red card (second yellow for a schwalbe) from Neymar against RC Strasbourg (2-1 win), the Brazilian was suspended. Up front, Mbappé was joined by Hugo Ekitike, while Achraf Hakimi could count on his first starting place after the World Cup as left back. At Lens, Openda was the center forward.
????????! It is already 1-0 for RC Lens! ??
PSG can start immediately… ??#ZiggoSport #Ligue1 #RCLPSG pic.twitter.com/boSpvSl88B— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) January 1, 2023
The home fans were, as usual, very present in the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. The Parisians fell behind after just five minutes, when Gianluigi Donnarumma failed to successfully process a cross from Massadio Haïdara. Then Przemyslaw Frankowski was there like the chickens to tap in the opening goal. Less than three minutes later, PSG tied the score again.
A wonderful cross pass from Carlos Soler managed to reach Nordi Mukiele, after which the right back managed to get the ball in front of the goal in a clever way. Lens goalkeeper Brice Samba was unable to clamp the leather, allowing Ekitike to finish in an empty goal: 1-1. In the 27th minute, the lightning-fast Openda gave Lens the lead again by finishing a great through ball from Seko Fofana.
????????????! Paris Saint-Germain is once again facing a deficit ??
A lightning-fast counter from RC Lens: 2-1 via Loïs Openda! ????#ZiggoSport #Ligue1 #RCLPSG pic.twitter.com/duZNsnprho
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) January 1, 2023
In minute 47, Lens was able to benefit from moderately constructive work from Danilo Pereira and Fabián Ruiz. Haïdara took over the ball and immediately played in Openda, who played Alexis Claude-Maurice with his heel. The winger outwitted Donnarumma with a low shot: 3-1. The dissatisfied Christophe Galtier took Danilo and Ruiz off ten minutes later, but substitutes Vitinha and Pablo Sarabia were unable to improve PSG’s game. The latter saw Samba give a great performance fifteen minutes before the final whistle after his effort, so that the real tension was not forthcoming in the final phase. For Galtier, it was his first defeat on Sunday evening as PSG trainer, which sees Lens getting closer.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | v | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paris Saint Germain | 17 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 33 | 44 |
| 2 | RC Lens | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 40 |
| 3 | Olympic Marseille | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 33 |
| 4 | AS Monaco | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 33 |
| 5 | Stade Rennes | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 31 |
| 6 | Lorient | 17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 31 |
| 7 | Lille OSC | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 29 |
| 8 | Olympic Lyon | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 24 |
| 9 | Clermont | 17 | 6 | 4 | 7 | -5 | 22 |
| 10 | OGC Nice | 16 | 5 | 6 | 5 | -2 | 21 |
| 11 | Reims | 16 | 4 | 8 | 4 | -3 | 20 |
| 12 | Toulouse | 17 | 5 | 4 | 8 | -10 | 19 |
| 13 | Montpellier | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | -3 | 17 |
| 14 | Nantes | 17 | 3 | 8 | 6 | -6 | 17 |
| 15 | Troyes AC | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | -5 | 15 |
| 16 | AC Ajaccio | 17 | 4 | 3 | 10 | -11 | 15 |
| 17 | Stadium Brest | 17 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -15 | 13 |
| 18 | A. J. Auxerre | 17 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -19 | 13 |
| 19 | Strasbourg | 16 | 1 | 8 | 7 | -10 | 11 |
| 20 | Angers | 17 | 2 | 2 | 13 | -21 | 8 |