PSG are winning even when they are playing bad

Last season they cruised dominantly to the Ligue 1 title, but at the start of the new one Paris Saint-Germain are struggling. They don’t sparkle like they did last year, yet despite that they are on maximum points after two matches. A narrow win was enough away at Nantes in the opening round of the championship, and they celebrated by the same scoreline in the second round against Angers at the Parc des Princes – 1:0 (0:0). In the first round the narrow win was somewhat expected, since Luis Enrique threw two newcomers straight into the fire from the start – Lucas Chevalier and Illia Zabarnyi – plus several reserves such as Kang-in Lee, Lucas Hernandez, his namesake Beraldo, Goncalo Ramos, and the young Ibrahim Embaye. Today, however, he fielded practically his strongest lineup, missing only the injured Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Therefore, it was expected that they would give their fans a lively performance and a convincing victory. But the crowd at the Parc des Princes didn’t enjoy themselves too much.

In fact, during the first half some were biting their nails. Although Angers barely ventured into the opposition’s half, they managed to withstand the pressure of the French and European champions until halftime. They also had the good fortune that Ousmane Dembele, one of the main candidates for the Ballon d’Or, missed a penalty midway through the first period. The French forward took responsibility after Marius Kurkul brought down Joao Neves in the box, but he sent the ball high over the goal, squandering the perfect chance to turn PSG’s dominance into a lead.

The deserved lead finally came for Luis Enrique’s team right after the break. After PSG circled around the opponent’s penalty area for nearly a full minute, Desire Doue sent in a sharp ball that deflected off an Angers defender and fell perfectly to Fabian Ruiz. The Spanish midfielder needed only a split second to set himself for the shot – and when he does, there’s no salvation for the opponent. Even with his weaker foot, Ruiz struck through the defender’s legs into the far corner, breaking the visitors’ resistance. From then on, the home team played only as much as was necessary to preserve the narrow advantage. Angers never found a way to test Chevalier, while PSG could have sealed the victory late on. Ruiz again found himself with a chance, this time after a pinpoint cross from Achraf Hakimi, but his header from seven meters went just wide.

LIGUE 1 - MATCHDAY 2

Friday

PSG - Angers 1-0 (0-0)

/Ruiz 50/

Satuday

18.00: (1.42) Olympique Marseille (4.50) Paris (7.75)

20.00: (1.67) Nice (4.00) Auxerre (5.00)

22.05: (1.40) Olympique Lyon (4.70) Metz (8.00)

Sunday

16.00: (2.85) Lorient (3.25) Rennes (2.55)

18.15: (3.90) Le Havre (3.60) Lens (2.05)

18.15: (1.80) Strasbourg (3.75) Nantes (4.75)

18.15: (2.10) Toulouse (3.50) Brest (3.80)

21.45: (3.00) Lille (3.50) Monaco (2.45)

***odds are subject to change***