Winners and Losers as PSG Miss Chance to Hit Ligue 1 Top Spot with Lille Draw

Paris Saint-Germain missed the chance to hit top spot in Ligue 1 for the first time this season after Lille OSC held them to a 1-1 draw at the Stade Pierre Mauroy on Wednesday. Although the point gained does close the gap between the French champions and title rivals Olympique de Marseille, Marcelo Bielsa’s men remain a point in front.

Both sides had chance to win the game in northern France, with LOSC’s Vincent Enyeama proving to be particularly difficult to beat. But Edinson Cavani’s opener was cancelled out by a Salvatore Sirigu own goal before half-time, and that is how it stayed.

After a number of disappointing performances and poor results lately, Rene Girard’s men put in a much-improved display and can feel happy with their showing, even if they did not keep the three points in Lille. PSG’s performance was still somewhat underwhelming though, despite the fact that Laurent Blanc created the chances to secure the points.

The PSG boss could see some positives from the display when he discussed the result with PSG.fr after the match (in French) but also admitted that he was disappointed not to get the three points. However, Blanc did acknowledge that Lille were good value for their point.

Here are some winners and losers from Lille’s 1-1 draw with PSG.

Winner: Lucas Moura, Who Was Sensational for PSG

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While his team-mates around him looked sluggish at times on the Stade Pierre Mauroy pitch, Lucas Moura was excellent and was once again PSG’s key player.

After a recent layoff with an injury picked up in Les Parisiens’ 2-0 win over bitter rivals Marseille last month, the Brazilian international could be forgiven for appearing a little off the pace. However, the 22-year-old has now built on encouraging performances against AFC Ajax and OGC Nice with another good display in Lille.

Had Enyeama not been in such inspired form in goal for Les Dogues, perhaps Lucas would have proved the match-winner for PSG.

Winner: Vincent Enyeama, Who Single-Handedly Kept PSG at Bay

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Without Enyeama, Lille would almost certainly have lost to PSG on Wednesday. Girard’s side played very well, much better than they have done in recent weeks, but they still required the Nigerian international to make some crucial saves.

Last season, the 32-year-old was often the difference between draws and narrow victories for LOSC, but this campaign there have been fewer clean sheets and draws as well as regular defeats.

Despite conceding to Cavani in the first half, Enyeama went on to produce one of his typically stubborn performances and helped earn Lille’s point.

As it transpired, opposite number Sirigu played an equally big role in deciding that the points would be shared.

Loser: Salvatore Sirigu, Who Gifted Lille the Draw

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Inside of the opening two minutes of the match, PSG’s Sirigu was forced to make two very good saves, while Lille also hit the woodwork in an unbelievable sequence. Blanc’s men then went on to open the scoring through Cavani, and it looked as if the capital outfit would sail to victory from there.

Sirigu would prove decisive in a negative sense as well as a positive one before half-time though.

The Italian is a fine goalkeeper and very well-rounded, but he does have a slight weakness when it comes to catching the ball. That frailty was exposed by Lille with Sirigu spilling a corner and managing to put it through his net when trying to clear it away.

Sometimes, the Azzurri star just needs to catch the ball instead of trying to punch or palm it away.

Loser: Laurent Blanc, Who Saw His Side Fail to Take Their Chance to Go Top

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Blanc watched as his side threw away a golden chance to overtake Marseille at the top of the Ligue 1 table in the 1-1 draw with Lille.

Although not too many criticisms of his starting XI can be raised, Le President will have to deal with the scrutiny that his team will inevitably come under after such a disappointing result.

The Frenchman needs to get his side playing with more fluency and with a more serious approach to many of their domestic games.

They have shown in their last two fixtures against both Nice and Lille that they can motivate themselves to play some good football against sides they feel are below them. However, that has not been enough so far.