Lille vs. PSG: Winners and Losers from Ligue 1 Game
French champions Paris Saint-Germain kicked off their Ligue 1 title defence with a 1-0 win away at Lille OSC on Friday, their first opening-day victory since the 2010-11 season.
Watched by new signing Angel Di Maria and deprived of star man Zlatan Ibrahimovic because of a knee injury, Les Parisiens managed to break their opening-day curse after five years without a first-game win in Le Championnat.
Lucas Moura’s finishing touch on a sublime team goal was ultimately the difference between the two sides at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, with Laurent Blanc’s men overcoming Adrien Rabiot’s 27th-minute dismissal to secure all three points with a disciplined display.
PSG coach Blanc told PSG.fr (h/t ESPN FC) of his satisfaction at his players, saying, "Given the scenario, winning with 10 men is a very good result. It's the first game of the season and we are still finding our form, but our individual and collective quality saw us control the game. We have to be careful because you can't always win playing 10 versus 11."
Herve Renard’s competitive debut as Lille coach ended in defeat, but the Frenchman will have still taken a few positives from the game.
Some members of his youthful XI, such as Benjamin Pavard, Sofiane Boufal and Sehrou Guirassy, caught the eye as Les Dogues worked hard and were well organised. However, they were ultimately left to rue their shortcomings in attack.
Here are some winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Lucas Moura
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After a promising first half of last season was derailed by injury back in February, Lucas Moura has started this campaign with a point to prove.
The Brazilian struggled at first in pre-season but gradually improved during the Ligue 1 champions’ International Champions Cup campaign in North America and is looking in top shape once again.
Lucas enjoyed a prolific start to last term, and the 22-year-old has got himself a goal early on in this campaign, too.
It was a lovely strike, too. The South American passed to Edinson Cavani, who found Blaise Matuidi, and the France international then played a delightful pass back into the path of the motoring Moura, who took the ball around Vincent Enyeama and into the empty net.
Considering that his place in Laurent Blanc’s starting XI is likely to be under threat after the arrival of Angel Di Maria, it was a good time for Lucas to impress.
With another Brazilian national team squad selection coming up soon as well, the PSG No. 7 could find himself finally recalled by the Selecao after an agonising absence.
Loser: Adrien Rabiot
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Although he is a fantastic young talent, PSG’s Adrien Rabiot continues to see his stock slip with the capital club’s fans after getting himself sent off inside of 30 minutes.
The France under-21 international was first booked for an aggressive foul on Florent Balmont after 22 minutes before stupidly getting himself a second yellow card just five minutes later for pulling back Sebastien Corchia after he gave away possession cheaply.
Rabiot burned a lot of bridges at PSG with his behaviour during a bitter standoff between himself, his mother—and agent—Veronique, and the club last year regarding a contract extension.
The 20-year-old eventually committed his future to the club, but he has a long way to go to prove to the capital club and its fans that he was worth the hassle.
Winner: Serge Aurier
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Scorer of one of PSG’s two goals against Olympique Lyonnais in the Trophee des Champions in Montreal last week, Serge Aurier continued his strong early season form with another eye-catching performance here.
The Ivory Coast international is a physical specimen, and he put in a monstrous performance at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, both in defence and attack.
Aurier was a marauding presence down the right-hand side yet was a tough nut to crack for Lille debutant Eric Bautheac when closer to his own goal. He also linked up extremely well with teammate Marco Verratti on numerous occasions.
On this evidence, it is difficult to see Gregory van der Wiel dislodging him in the PSG starting XI anytime soon.
Loser: Rio Mavuba
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One of Herve Renard’s first moves when he took over as Lille coach this summer was to ensure that captain Rio Mavuba signed a new contract.
On the evidence of this performance, it is difficult to see why it was such a priority.
The 31-year-old picked up a booking for cutting Lucas off mid-run in the second half and then was caught static in midfield as some simple, but effective, passing and rapid movement completely undid Les Dogues in midfield.
Mavuba has more experience than almost anybody in the Lille squad, but considering his performances over the past two seasons, the right decision after his contract expired at the end of last season would have been to let him move on.
It feels as if the France international was kept around more because of his past glories than current endeavours.
Winner: Herve Renard
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Despite seeing his team beaten in his first home game as coach, Herve Renard will have been encouraged by what he saw from his players.
The charismatic Frenchman fielded a young starting XI, and he was rewarded with an organised and hard-working display.
Defender Benjamin Pavard looked composed; the gifted Sofiane Boufal showed glimpses of his sublime talent and generally looked threatening; and Sehrou Guirassy also fared well alone up top.
It was only a narrow defeat for Renard, and the performance will have given him plenty to build on in the coming weeks.
Loser: Florent Balmont
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Rio Mavuba’s longtime midfield partner in crime Florent Balmont is another player who is living on past glories.
The 35-year-old is slow, clumsy and is stifling the emergence of further young talent in Renard’s team. Once PSG went down to 10 men, it underlined how much of a burden the cumbersome French veteran is.
Perhaps keeping one of Mavuba or Balmont would have been understandable for a bit of continuity, but to see them both starting still is uninspiring.
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