PSG vs. Guingamp: Winners and Losers from Ligue 1 Game

Guingamp didn’t enjoy the best start to the Ligue 1 season, but Saturday’s 2-1 win over Gazelec Ajaccio was their third on the trot and sent them to the French capital full of confidence before taking on Paris Saint-Germain.

Despite a strong defensive performance, PSG were too strong for the visitors, and eventually, after strolling through large periods of the game, they would run out 3-0 winners.

The hosts went into the game in relatively bad form after drawing 1-1 against Stade de Reims last Saturday and 2-2 with Bordeaux at the Parc des Princes the week before, but Laurent Blanc's side got back to winning ways.

Before the game against Guingamp, Blanc went on record, via Ligue1.com, to defend the changes he has made to his starting XI recently:

"

Sometimes rotation happens naturally: when you have injuries and suspensions. Apart from for the goalkeeper, because it is a special role. If you do what Barcelona did last season, then you always play the same XI and you will always have the same unhappy players. But you need to be lucky or talented to not have injuries, to win all the time, and especially lucky to have a player like Messi.

"

Contiuning that theme, Blanc would make six changes from the XI that started against Reims, with Edinson Cavani, Maxwell, Blaise Matuidi, Thiago Motta, Angel Di Maria and David Luiz all back in—Thiago Silva was given a place on the bench for his birthday.

No matter the XI, PSG should always be stronger than minnows like Guingamp. Full credit to the performance of the away side, but they didn’t have enough to trouble Kevin Trapp’s goal.

Here are the winners and losers from PSG’s 3-0 win over Guingamp.

Winner: Javier Pastore

Thibault Camus/Associated Press

Pastore opens the scoring against Guingamp.

Given the nod against Stade de Reims on Saturday, Javier Pastore was unlucky to have a goal disallowed for offside—he rectified that on Tuesday.

"

VINE: #PSG 1-0 Guingamp, Javier Pastore with the goal: https://t.co/ke8eHSf5zy

— PSG Tourist (@PSGTourist) September 22, 2015"

Guingamp switched off with 17 minutes on the clock, the Argentine midfielder picked up the ball from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and with time and space, he fired a lovely shot into the bottom corner.

Late in the second half he had a fierce shot saved by Jonas Lossl, but overall he was one of the better players for the home side.

Loser: Younousse Sankhare

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Sankhare tackles Ibrahimovic.

When you try to pick up a result at the Parc des Princes, you need to be switched on and at your best for the entire 90 minutes.

Sankhare started the game as the only Guingamp player on the pitch who had scored this season, but it was his defensive play that let him down on Tuesday.

After Ibrahimovic fed the ball to Pastore for the opening goal, it was Sankhare who was closest to the playmaker, but the 26-year-old failed to make any attempt to close him down and the PSG man fired the ball past Jonas Lossl.

Winner: Marcus Coco

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Marcus Coco starts a Guingamp counter.

Playing only his fourth game of the season, 19-year-old Marcus Coco really caught the eye on Tuesday night.

Guingamp didn’t see a lot of the ball, but when they did, the charging runs of Coco down the left were a definite bright point.

He looked bright, full of energy and fearless. If he can continue to progress, he is certainly one to watch this season.

Winner: Jeremy Sorbon

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Sorbon with another excellent tackle.

Despite losing 3-0 away at PSG, a number of the Guingamp side should leave the French capital with their heads held high.

Lossl nearly made this list, but his fumble for Di Maria’s goal let him down slightly; however, he did have a very good night.

In front of him, 32-year-old Jeremy Sorbon was a constant thorn in PSG’s side, heading away threat after threat. His positioning was consistently excellent, and he deserved better than getting three put past him.