PSG Leave It Late to Overcome Brave Metz: Winners and Losers from Ligue 1 Game
Paris Saint-Germain hit top spot in Ligue 1—at least temporarily—with a 3-2 win away at FC Metz's Stade Saint-Symphorien on Friday. A crazy five-goal thriller saw the French champions take the lead through Javier Pastore’s first goal of the season, before Gaetan Bussmann’s own goal put them two up inside of 16 minutes.
At that moment, a thrashing was on the cards.
It was not to be though, as two Modibo Maiga penalties in the space of four minutes in the second half turned the game on its head and put the hosts in the driving seat. PSG’s Salvatore Sirigu even had to deny the Metz man his third of the night with a good save on the Malian’s goal-bound header.
With just seven minutes remaining, though, PSG got the killer goal.
Johann Carrasso, who was excellent all night, made two good saves to keep Les Parisiens at bay, but he could not stop Ezequiel Lavezzi from following up on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s blocked effort. El Pocho poked home the winner and ended Metz's unbeaten home record in the league this season.
The match finished at 3-2, and that is enough to lift PSG two points clear of Olympique de Marseille at the top of the table ahead of their meeting with Girondins de Bordeaux on Sunday.
"5 – 5 goals have been scored in a Ligue 1 game played on a Friday for the 1st time since 14th April, during Montpellier-OM (2-3). Rare.
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 21, 2014"
After the match, capital club coach Laurent Blanc was satisfied with the result and told the team's website (in French) that his players did what was necessary and were not happy to settle for the 2-2 draw after conceding the two early second-half penalties.
Here are some winners and losers from Les Parisiens' fifth straight Ligue 1 victory.
Winner: Javier Pastore Who Scored His First Goal of the Season
1 of 5
If anybody in the PSG side deserves at least a goal for their efforts so far this season, it's Pastore.
"1 - Javier Pastore has scored his first Ligue 1 goal this season, with his 17th shot. Relief.
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 21, 2014"
The Argentine playmaker finally netted his first goal of the campaign in the ninth minute against Metz with a delicate chipped effort. It took him until his 13th starting appearance in the league to break that duck.
"Javier Pastore just did this rainbow flick, class! 🔥 http://t.co/Menwh2F6KN
— Football Vines (@FootballVines) November 21, 2014"
El Flaco has been reborn so far this term, and the confidence flowed more freely than ever after he finally bagged himself his first goal. His rainbow flick toward the end of the game was perfect evidence of that.
Winner: Modibo Maiga Who Is Proving to Be a Hit at Metz
2 of 5
When playing for FC Sochaux-Montbeliard and Le Mans FC, Modibo Maiga developed something of a knack for scoring goals in games against PSG.
That proved to be the case again for Metz, with the on-loan West Ham United striker tucking away two penalties to take his total number of career goals scored against the capital club to five.
"6 – Metz have won 6 penalties in Ligue 1 2014/15, more than any other team. Grenats.
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 21, 2014"
The 27-year-old Malian international now has four goals in nine appearances for Les Grenats.
However, those four goals have been scored in pairs, meaning that the Metz No. 20 has only found the net in two separate matches so far.
Considering it was only his sixth full start of the season, though, that is a good beginning to his spell at the Stade Saint-Symphorien.
Loser: Gaetan Bussmann Who Scored a Sloppy Own Goal
3 of 5
Despite an excellent start to the season, Metz’s talented left-back Gaetan Bussmann was at fault for PSG’s second goal and will want to forget his performance as quickly as possible.
Lavezzi’s floated first-half free-kick (pictured above) evaded everybody in the hosts’ penalty area until it came to the 23-year-old, and it went in off of his thigh to double the champions' lead inside of 16 minutes.
"2 - Metz have conceded 2 goals during the 1st half-time of a Ligue 1 game for the first time since January 2008… v PSG. Persecutor.
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 21, 2014"
While one performance will not take away from what has been an extremely promising start to his first full season in the top flight, the Metz No. 24 should use it as a lesson.
Loser: Zlatan Ibrahimovic Who Looked Well off the Pace
4 of 5
Another loser on the night was Ibrahimovic.
Prior to the game, it had been built up as the Swede's big comeback—his first full start for PSG in exactly two months. However, the 33-year-old looked every bit the player that has barely kicked a ball during the past two months.
Despite playing for 90 minutes and scoring in Sweden's 1-1 draw with Montenegro recently, Ibrahimovic looked short of fitness and rusty. The PSG No. 10 may have been involved in the build-up to Lavezzi's match-winning goal, but it was hardly intended to be an assist.
Aside from that contribution, the talismanic striker did little of note and should consider himself fortunate not to have been substituted earlier by Blanc.
Loser: The Under-Fire Yohan Cabaye Who Limped off Injured Early on
5 of 5
Poor old Yohan Cabaye just cannot get a break.
No sooner had he been handed a rare chance to impress from the start for PSG in the absence of Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi than he has to leave the field with a calm problem after 20 minutes.
The French international was comfortably the biggest loser from this match.
In truth, Cabaye looked short of confidence before he had to limp off in Metz, and the 28-year-old looked every bit a player under pressure to perform. Although the injury was most unfortunate, it could be that PSG’s No. 4 has missed one of his last chances to save his career in the French capital.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
