PSG's Serge Aurier Serves Up Timely Reminder of His Versatility in Toulouse Win

Paris Saint-Germain were disappointing in Toulouse on Saturday, yet Laurent Blanc’s men still managed to escape Stadium Municipal with a 1-0 win and all three points. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s second-half header was enough for the Ligue 1 leaders to claim their victory.

The success has opened up a provisional 23-point lead at Le Championnat’s summit and PSG are now unbeaten in 30 league fixtures, which is a new club-record run.

However, while Blanc will be pleased that the French champions’ ability to grind out the result, Le President will be concerned by the injuries suffered by Javier Pastore and Marquinhos over the course of the game.

Romain Perrocheau/Getty Images

The Brazil international’s exit after an hour was especially a blow after a commanding performance up until that point.

Marquinhos made a number of important blocks to prevent Toulouse from potentially opening the scoring, while he also stood strong in the PSG penalty box at times and compensated for the lack of influential captain Thiago Silva.

Serge Aurier was Marquinhos’ replacement in central defence once he was forced off in Toulouse and the Ivory Coast international came to life once he was moved inside.

The 22-year-old made a number of important tackles, notably a sliding interception on the edge of his own box not long after making the positional switch, which helped Les Parisiens to keep their 13th Ligue 1 clean sheet of the season intact.

Speaking with PSG’s official website after the final whistle, Aurier was pleased with the result and admitted that his team had to fight to take the points from Dominique Arribage’s relegation battlers:

"

It was a very tough game. We knew it was going to be a difficult match against this side, with the state of the pitch and an opponent that is fighting for its survival. But we knew that if we kept the pressure on, we would score. You can always win a game without playing your best football, and that was the case tonight. We're very happy. We fought very hard for these three points. And we deserve them.

"

For Aurier, it was a much happier return to Stadium Municipal to face his former club than it was last season.

That time, the PSG No. 19 was guilty of gifting Ben Yedder the ball to score the opening goal in an uninspiring 1-1 draw, but this time he was far more impressive.

PASCAL PAVANI/Getty Images

The French champions and Toulouse will meet again next Tuesday in the Coupe de France round of 32 and Blanc might have a few defensive headaches to contend with.

With the skipper, Silva, currently nursing a knee problem following PSG’s recent 2-0 home win over SC Bastia, Tuesday’s second part of a domestic triple-header with Toulouse might come too soon for the Brazilian.

Depending on how serious Marquinhos’ injury picked up on Saturday is, David Luiz and Presnel Kimpembe may well be Blanc’s only central defenders fit enough to play.

The Brazil international was a pre-match concern ahead of the 1-0 win in Toulouse with a back problem, so it is possible that he is rested.

FRANCK FIFE/Getty Images

If Blanc does elect to give Luiz a breather, then Aurier will almost certainly have to play from the start in his secondary central-defensive role.

With that in mind, the Ivorian’s impressive final 30 minutes at Stadium Municipal were well-timed and should lessen the French tactician’s headache ahead of the game.

Aurier is Blanc’s first choice at right-back, but he is also a useful option to have in the middle. It would be no surprise if that is where the African starts on Tuesday, possibly alongside youth academy graduate Kimpembe.