Paris avoided the cold and regained air at the top of Ligue 1. At the frozen Parc des Princes and a little snow in the second half, PSG did not immediately ignite the spirits of the brave supporters who braved negative temperatures on Saturday night. But he has regained his leadership position, calm, composed and without new injuries, thanks to his success against Le Havre (3-0) which put him two points ahead of Olympique de Marseille. And allowing him to face his next encounter against Tottenham on Wednesday with confidence and composure.
Luis Enrique has had some pretty eventful nights since the start of the season and is not satisfied with this one scenario, which in particular will allow us to assess the quality of his substitutes, and that of Lucas Chevalier, ultimately determining, we will return to. The Spaniard knows the difficulty of approaching this kind of encounter appropriately after the international break and before the Champions League, and in this case, the usual substitute was called upon to do the job, as he had left on the bench Marquinhos, who will still wait before playing his 500th game, Pacho, Fabian Ruiz and Barcola, scorer of the final goal of the night (87), which has not happened to him for more than a month.
In this little game, Kang-in Lee shows that he is once again a credible alternative and regains his influence. Author of the opening goal (29) following a cross from Nuno Mendes, who was back in the starting lineup after being injured against Bayern, the South Korean once again took advantage of the opportunity offered by Luis Enrique and continued to gain points. That was not the case for his teammates, Lucas Beraldo, who was too easy to handle for the team with the smallest budget in L1, or Gonçalo Ramos, starting for the first time since October 17 who confirmed that he is much better off the bench.
knight character
As well as being cut off from his opponents, the Portuguese also missed opportunities that almost no striker of his class can miss, while Le Havre decided to leave the bus in the car park unlike previous visitors.
Offensively, HAC allowed Lucas Chevalier to break out of his usual technical unemployment in Ligue 1. Therefore, history will remember that his season may actually start this Saturday. Being a goalkeeper at PSG requires an extraordinary mentality and although it will be a while before Lille truly make Donnarumma forget, the new international has proven his strength of character.
The pressure was high after his generally mixed performances and the controversy surrounding his “like” in post-RN, but Chevalier did what it took to deny him by making two important saves at 0-0, including a pretty crazy fingertip save (25th). His new save on Zouaoui’s free kick (62nd) was less spectacular but no less important, as João Neves was responsible for the counter-attack three minutes later, cementing his status as the current goalscorer to end the week with four goals. Yes, life becomes simpler with a decisive goalkeeper, able to save furniture and win points. Knight armor will now harden over time.
