Nice vs. PSG: Winners and Losers from Ligue 1 Game
Paris Saint-Germain moved a provisional 16 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 with a 3-0 win away at OGC Nice on Friday.
After a 0-0 draw away at Angers SCO on Tuesday saw the French champions held without scoring a goal for the first time in 26 games in Le Championnat, Laurent Blanc’s men put that right with a convincing win over one of the French top flight’s high-flying teams.
First-half goals from Edinson Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (a penalty) and another from the Sweden international in the second 45 were enough to secure PSG all three points at Allianz Riviera.
Niklas Hult’s straight red card for his foul on his compatriot Ibrahimovic for the penalty made things easier for the Ligue 1 leaders in Nice.
PSG coach Blanc was happy with his team getting three more points on the board this early in the season, as he told PSG.fr after the final whistle.
"In December, we played away to Angers and Nice, and soon away to Caen. Few would have thought these would be matches against second, third and fifth in the league. They have all enjoyed excellent starts to the season, that no-one saw coming. So these are important points, especially away from home. We have 45 points so far with a difficult fixture list including 11 away matches in the first half of the campaign. If we can get a few more points, it will be a very good first half of the season.
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Hatem Ben Arfa did shine for Les Aiglons, especially in the first half, but Hult’s dismissal effectively killed any chance for them to get something out of the game.
Here are some winners and losers from PSG’s 3-0 win away at Nice.
Winner: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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Two goals, an assist and another record broken; it was just a regular day at the office for Ibrahimovic on the French Riviera on Friday.
The 34-year-old created Cavani’s opener and provided the assist for the Uruguay international with a slick pass across the face of goal after 35 minutes
Zlatan’s first strike was simple enough nine minutes later; a trademark powerfully struck penalty that Yoan Cardinale had little chance of getting down to keep out, but the second was an excellent sweeping low-angled finish past the Nice goalkeeper at his near post from an Angel Di Maria pass.
Ibrahimovic’s first goal took him to 86 Ligue 1 goals, taking him above Mustapha Dahleb as PSG’s undisputed leading scorer in Le Championnat, and his second took him to a current tally of 87.
The super Swede’s double also makes him the leading scorer (12) and assist provider (6) in the league going into this weekend’s matches.
Loser: Niklas Hult
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The big loser on Friday was Nice’s Niklas Hult. The Swede stupidly tried to pull his compatriot Ibrahimovic back just three minutes before half-time, forcing referee Antony Gautier to reach for his red card.
It was a pointless thing for the 25-year-old to do as he was unlikely to stop the PSG man and was always going to get punished for it.
While Les Aiglons would still have had a chance of getting back into the game with all 11 men, despite trailing 2-0, there was no chance for Puel’s men after this.
Hult’s dismissal killed the game for the hosts by making a comeback impossible.
Winner: Hatem Ben Arfa
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Despite the 2-0 defeat, Nice’s Hatem Ben Arfa still managed to catch the eye at Allianz Riviera. The France international was full of his usual trickery, and he came very close to scoring a sensational opening goal before PSG took the lead, arguably against the run of play up until that point.
Ben Arfa was a constant concern for Les Parisiens when on the ball, and his quick feet put a number of Blanc’s men to shame, notably Benjamin Stambouli in the first half.
In this sort of form, it is little surprise that Didier Deschamps has recalled the 28-year-old to the France setup recently.
Loser: Serge Aurier
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Although PSG won and kept a clean sheet, it was not a particularly impressive performance from Serge Aurier, and the Ivorian could not better a disappointing outing in Angers.
The Ivory Coast international has failed to curb his habit of picking up yellow cards, and his tackle on compatriot Jean Michael Seri earned him a booking and a consequent suspension for the capital club’s Coupe de la Ligue date with AS Saint-Etienne in a couple of weeks.
Winner: Thiago Silva
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It has been a strong season so far for PSG’s captain, Thiago Silva, with Friday night being the latest in a long line of solid and assured performances from the Brazil international.
The 31-year-old helped to keep a 10th clean sheet of the campaign in his 17th appearance, and the South American also played an important role in the buildup to Ibrahimovic’s first, playing a superb pass out of defence to Stambouli as the ball worked its way forward to Matuidi and then Cavani.
Loser: Claude Puel
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After looking at what Angers did to PSG in their 0-0 draw just days earlier, Puel tried to replicate le SCO’s approach and failed.
Hult’s straight red card before half-time played a significant role in the hosts’ undoing. However, Les Aiglons do not possess the same calibre of defensive talent that Angers do, and they also possess much better attacking players. Puel should have focused on that instead of trying to frustrate PSG.
Jeremy Pied’s pre-match injury also forced the French tactician to tinker with his game plan, so that also hindered Nice’s ability to put Puel’s vision into action.
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