Pressure Continues to Build on Unai Emery After PSG Shocker in Toulouse

Paris Saint-Germain were taught a lesson on Friday night, and so were their fans and the media who read far too much into wins over SM Caen and Dijon FCO.

Taking on another team in good form, just like their 3-1 defeat to AS Monaco in Week 3, PSG were outplayed on Friday night, beaten 2-0 by Toulouse at the Stade Municipal.

Before the game, manager Unai Emery spoke of the need for his players to be at their best against their opponents:

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To win in Toulouse, we have to prepare well. They're a team that has made a good start to the season. The stadium will be full, they'll be motivated and will redouble their efforts, even more so as they're playing Paris Saint-Germain. On Friday, we'll need the best players in the best conditions to be able to go for the win.

"

That didn’t happen, and from the first minute, PSG were made aware they were in for a fight with the sight of Blaise Matuidi emerging from the first challenge of the game with a bloody nose.

When PSG are given time and possession of the ball, all is well, but pressurised and made to work, it all fell apart. They were lacking in every department, and Toulouse deserved the three points.

PSG will face Bulgarian side Ludogorets Razgrad on Wednesday in the Champions League, and with that in mind, Emery made four changes from the team that beat Dijon 2-0 on Tuesday.

Marquinhos and Serge Aurier came into the defence for Presnel Kimpembe and Thomas Meunier.

In the midfield, Thiago Motta and Javier Pastore dropped out, and Grzegorz Krychowiak and Matuidi came in.

The attacking trio remained the same, with Jean-Kevin Augustin and Jese Rodriguez on the bench.

That was a surprise in itself. Angel Di Maria, Edinson Cavani and Lucas Moura, despite winning the game 3-0, were far from devastating at the Parc des Princes, and with the Champions League coming up, it may have been the ideal time to try one of the other options.

Apart from the result and the defeat, the most worrying thing for PSG fans would be the Spanish coach's perceived inability to change the flow of Friday's game and react to anything that was happening on the pitch.

"

Superbe parade  #TFCPSG pic.twitter.com/NvRaVM78eS

— Guillaume L. (@GuillaumL_) September 23, 2016"

In the first half, Alban Lafont was the hero, making two miraculous saves from Cavani to keep the scores level.

It wasn't all one-way traffic, though, and Le Tefece showed throughout the first 45 minutes that they were there to attack and take the game to the champions.

Pascal Dupraz fired up his side at half-time and they came out flying after the break. Attacking down the right, a dangerous cross was played into the box, and Aurier had his hands all over Ola Toivonen.

The Ivorian was shown his second yellow card and PSG were reduced to 10 men. Yann Bodiger stepped up and powered a left-footed shot past Alphonse Areola.

"Bravo to Toulouse, they played how they had to to beat us,” Matuidi admitted to Canal Plus (h/t PSG's official website) after the game. He went on:

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We played well in the first half. The turning point of the game was the penalty and the sending-off. With ten men, it was more difficult. We're going to keep working. It's long, 38 games. This evening it wasn't a great Paris on show. The red card and the penalty contributed greatly to that. Each season it's tough. This year even more so than previously. We mustn't worry, and just get back to work.

"

PSG's attack had been nonexistent in the second half, but Emery made a like-for-like change, bringing off Lucas for Pastore.

They are both different players, but the change kept the formation the same. Pace from Jese or Augustin at that stage, looking to hit TFC on the break, may have been a stronger move.

With 20 minutes to go, the Spaniard made his next move, and this one made no sense, with Motta coming on for Matuidi.

The Italian struggled against Dijon; his night against Toulouse was even worse. He was handed a yellow card after being on the pitch for five minutes.

He probably should have had a second yellow for a push on Issiaga Sylla moments later. And then there was the icing on the tasteless cake.

Holding onto the ball deep in his own half, Motta conceded possession to Jimmy Durmaz, and the Swedish substitute raced toward Areola to score the second goal.

Those 10 minutes summed up Motta's increasing liability in the PSG team—as discussed previously.

"

1 min avant il prend jaune, 1 min apres il donne le but , grande motta pic.twitter.com/xD6jXTRv9j

— philippe (@philousports) September 23, 2016"

On the sidelines, Emery was animated and vocal throughout, but it's hard to understand exactly what the game plan was.

There was no tactical nous at any point of the match—very similar to the Monaco defeat.

When everything is going well, Emery is fine, but as tweeted by journalist David Cartlidge, it seems this isn't a new problem for the former Sevilla boss.

Interestingly, the Ligue 1 champions are moving into dangerous territory. No longer will the Parisians sense fear when they turn up for away games.

In no way do they look like a team at the moment. It's all solo efforts and relying on moments of brilliance.

"The two halves were very different this evening," Emery told the PSG website after the game. "We had a very good first half without being able to score. Despite that, there were some good things from the first half."

There was one great team move in the first half. That's not good enough for a team that has had twice the budget of its closest rival over the past five summers.

Emery added: "After the break, the first piece of action changed the game. It's the key to the match. The red card and penalty changed everything. We knew that it was important to win with a view to Wednesday's game at Ludogorets. Now, the important thing for us is to get back to winning ways."

Toulouse and Monaco have proved that if you have a go and put this team under pressure, you can find success.

Other Ligue 1 teams will begin to see that. You can guarantee both Ludogorets and FC Basel will believe they can do it too.

PSG will still have a number of easy fixtures this season, especially at the Parc des Princes. However, that is not going to happen in the Champions League.

This club is expected to go into the latter stages. That's where a coach comes into his own. Former boss Laurent Blanc was deemed not good enough to take PSG to the next level. Right now, Emery looks further away from success than his predecessor ever did.