Javier Pastore Double vs. Nice Boosts PSG for Barcelona Champions League Test
Paris Saint-Germain put OGC Nice to the sword on Saturday, winning 3-1 at Allianz Riviera to go top of Ligue 1 until Sunday night at least.
Javier Pastore’s double and an Edinson Cavani penalty were enough to secure three points for Laurent Blanc’s men against Les Aiglons, with ex-PSG man Mathieu Bodmer netting the consolation for the hosts.
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The French capital outfit can now prepare for their UEFA Champions League quarter-final return leg against Barcelona with no other distractions. Les Parisiens face an impossible task at Camp Nou, needing to score three unanswered goals to triumph after losing the first leg 3-1 at home.
Pastore’s display will have been a welcome boost for PSG boss Blanc ahead of that tough task.
Celebrating his recent Ligue 1 Player of the Month award for March, the Argentinian playmaker started the game as part of the midfield three, with Lucas Moura returning to the starting XI as one of the attacking trio along with Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi.
El Flaco cut a frustrated figure for the first 31 minutes or so, as the defending French champions looked sluggish after their European disappointment against Barcelona. Pastore was booked for a foul on Nice’s Valentin Eysseric and the PSG back four were given a torrid time by the hosts’ Gregoire Puel and Said Benrahma.
The Parisien No. 27’s only other real action before then had been an early attack that broke down when he chose not to pass to Cavani, perhaps understandable considering El Matador’s poor display against Barcelona.
That all changed five minutes before half time, though; an incisive Lucas through ball played in Pastore and the 25-year-old controlled it before steadying himself with another touch and slipping the ball under Simon Pouplin in the Nice goal.
It was against the run of play, but it was a lovely goal and a rare example of some PSG quality in an otherwise forgettable first 45 minutes. Moments later, Pastore found Cavani with a delightful ball over the top, but Pouplin was out of his goal early to foil the Uruguayan and prevent him from finishing his team-mate’s pass.
David Luiz’s slowness in stepping out of defence allowed Bodmer, a former team-mate of Pastore’s in the capital, to tap home under Salvatore Sirigu right on the stroke of half-time.
Pegged back and in need of three points, the Argentina international seized control of the game in the second half. Nice started the brighter with some early pressure on the PSG right, but Pastore silenced them after 63 minutes.
The South American collected a pass from the otherwise disappointing Lucas Digne before controlling the ball and proceeding to juggle it right-footed past Romain Genevois. His driven first effort was well blocked by Pouplin, but the rebound fell to El Flaco, who lashed it home to make it 2-1.
Had the initial effort gone in, it would have been a contender for goal of the season, such was the quality of Pastore’s impudent ball-juggling. However, the follow-up smash was just more effective and found its way in.
Not since Pastore’s seminal performance in a PSG shirt—during a 3-0 win away at eventual title winners Montpellier HSC back in September of 2011—had the Argentinian netted a double. It was fitting that he did so in the midst of one of his best veins of form since those early displays when he first arrived back in 2011.
This time, Pastore’s defensive team-mates did not let him down and spoil his hard work.
Just six minutes after he had made it 2-1, Cavani was brought down in the Nice penalty area by Jordan Amavi in a rare example of the Uruguayan not trying to outrageously win the penalty but by actually being on the receiving end of a genuine foul.
El Matador dusted himself off and scored from the spot in his 10th Ligue 1 appearance since he last scored in the 4-2 home win over Evian Thonon Gaillard all the way back in January. That made it 3-1 and Blanc’s men saw it out from there.
Nice were unlucky in the first half and perhaps deserved to be ahead on the balance of play, but sluggish PSG moved up a gear in the second half and Pastore was the difference. El Flaco now boasts five league goals for the season, which is as many as he scored in his previous two seasons combined.
It might not be his opening campaign tally of 13, but it does not have to be anymore with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cavani in the team. However, while the Swede is suspended and the Uruguayan continues to blow hot and cold, Pastore’s consistency has been a blessing for Blanc.
The ultimately deserved win sends PSG one point clear of Lyon at the top of Le Championnat, and anything other than a Gones win at home to Rhone-Alpes rivals AS Saint-Etienne at Stade Gerland on Sunday night will make Les Parisiens’ current game in hand all the more valuable.
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