Breaking Down Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Performance for PSG vs. Lorient
Paris Saint-Germain will finally top Ligue 1 at the end of a round of fixtures for the first time this season after a 3-1 win over FC Lorient at Parc des Princes on Friday.
The defending French champions’ victory was followed up by Olympique Lyonnais’ surprise 2-1 defeat to 10-man OGC Nice—now coached by former Lyon boss Claude Puel—at Stade Gerland on Saturday.
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Laurent Blanc’s men are now one point clear of OL at the summit of Le Championnat going into the international break and have a Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat-trick to thank for that.
After a week full of unsurprising criticism because of last weekend’s foul-mouthed tirade following a 3-2 defeat away at Girondins de Bordeaux, the Swede responded to his detractors in the way every under-fire player should.
By doing his talking on the pitch.
It has been a difficult season for Ibrahimovic, struggling to rediscover his best form after a series of frustrating injuries, but the 33-year-old put in a good display against Lorient to help Les Parisiens past Sylvain Ripoll’s spirited strugglers.
On the face of it, two penalties and a simple finish from an excellent Marco Verratti pass might sound like an average day at the office that did not require the PSG talisman to excel. However, there was more to this showing from the Scandinavian star than just his goals.
For the first time in weeks, it was like watching the Zlatan of previous seasons. It was as if the controversy that he created last weekend with his comments about French refereeing actually created the environment necessary for him to rediscover something close to his best.
Feeding off of the frenzy that followed his comments in Bordeaux, the PSG No. 10 did not have to wait for long to get himself involved against Lorient.
Inside of just four minutes, Ibrahimovic did brilliantly well to draw FCL captain Wesley Lautoa out of position in defence before changing the direction of his run to latch onto a sublime clipped pass over the defence from captain and teammate Thiago Silva.
Lorient goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte had come haring out of goal and clattered into the Swede, leaving referee Tony Chapron with no choice but to award the penalty. Zlatan dusted himself off and converted from the spot clinically, before receiving some treatment on his ankle after the foul from Lecomte.
After walking gingerly on his ankle for a few minutes—understandable considering the force of the challenge from the Lorient goalkeeper—Ibrahimovic was moving freely once again, replete with backheel flicks and tricks.
Later on in the half, Lecomte brilliantly denied the PSG striker’s angled drive and teammate Ezequiel Lavezzi other chances on goal, but Zlatan’s real star turn came after 30 minutes.
Positioned on the edge of the penalty area, Ibrahimovic held up the ball, before taking Lautoa and Didier Ndong out of the game with a sublime backheeled pass into the path of Lavezzi.
It was a simple chance, but the Argentinian somehow contrived to waste it by firing into the side netting, and the only thing that spared El Pocho more embarrassment was the fact that he had been flagged for offside seconds before.
The Swede continued in this vein for most of the match, holding the ball up well, making a number of important passes as he looked to bring his teammates—particularly strike partner Edinson Cavani—into the game.
He even passed up a well-positioned free-kick in order to give the Uruguayan a chance to end his barren run without a goal, which now stands at 544 minutes in Ligue 1. El Matador came close from the set piece, but not close enough, and the search goes on for the South American.
However, despite Ibrahimovic’s good showing, his team switched off—as they so often do—allowing Lorient back into the match through Jordan Ayew’s fine strike.
It was not until the final 10 minutes that Zlatan got his chance to make the difference for the hosts.
Starting at the back with some brilliantly rugged defending from Silva, the referee played advantage and PSG moved up the pitch through a combination of Verratti and Maxwell on the left.
Picking up the ball on the right after an over-hit cross from the Brazilian, Ibrahimovic clipped the ball into the path of Adrien Rabiot’s darting run. Lorient’s Lamine Kone failed to clear after Javier Pastore’s attempted return pass to Rabiot, and the defender ill-advisedly slid in to try to dispossess the Argentine.
A second PSG penalty was awarded. Although the contact was debatable, few referees would not give the penalty there, as Kone’s decision to go to ground was foolish in the extreme.
Ibrahimovic stepped up and sent Lecomte the wrong way for his and PSG’s second of the night.
There was still time for one more cushioned pass on the edge of the box to set up a drilled Cavani effort that was easy enough for the Lorient goalkeeper to stop. But then came the final chance for Zlatan.
After some brilliant harrying from Verratti, the Italian played an inch-perfect pass into Ibrahimovic—who had been flagged offside with a chance moments before—and the PSG No. 10 made no mistake.
Lecomte was unlucky to only brush the ball as it went past him, but it was a good finish from Les Parisiens’ star man, making the game safe and enabling him to silence his critics in the way that only Zlatan can.
Although Ibrahimovic did not exactly excel and hit the highest of his previous heights in this showing, it was closer to a standard performance from the past few seasons. Compared with some of this campaign’s displays when he has been struggling, it was infinitely better.
The challenge for Zlatan and his teammates now will be to keep hold of top spot now that they have it in their grasp.
Next up is a trip to face bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille in Le Classique after the international break. A goal there would see Ibrahimovic become PSG’s all-time top scorer against their loathed southern foes.
The stage is set for another Zlatan landmark, it would appear.
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