PSG Beat Atletico Madrid in a Thriller After Virgiliu Postolachi's Game-Winner
July 30, 2018
Paris Saint-Germain held off an Atletico Madrid fightback at the National Stadium in Singapore on Monday to win 3-2 in the International Champions Cup.
Goals from Christopher Nkunku and Moussa Diaby had given the Parisian side a comfortable lead in the pre-season friendly, but Atleti pulled it back to 2-2 thanks to Victor Mollejo and an 86th-minute own goal from Antoine Bernede.
The match looked to be heading to penalties, but Virgiliu Postolachi popped up with a superb 92nd-minute winner to seal PSG's first win in this year's ICC.
The first half was book-ended by chances for Atletico, and on another day, they could have scored twice inside the opening 12 minutes.
Kevin Trapp showed good reactions to deny Angel Correa with his feet, while Kevin Gameiro blasted over from close range after racing into the penalty area.
Sports reporter Simon Collings noted the struggles of PSG's makeshift back line—which was comprised of Lassana Diarra, Stanley N'Soki and Kevin Rimane—but ESPN FC's Jonathan Johnson anticipated those problems will go away when their stars return to action:
Jonathan Johnson @Jon_LeGossip@sr_collings Insane with a ragtag squad, perhaps, but imagine Buffon - Marquinhos, Silva, Kimpembe - Meunier, Verratti, Rabiot, Kurzawa - Mbappe, Neymar - Cavani once they have learned the system. That said, Meunier & Kurzawa are not the best when it comes to defensive duties on either side.
Les Parisiens weathered the early storm, though, and after growing into the half, they took the lead through Nkunku.
Atleti uncharacteristically failed to deal with a ball into the box from Colin Dagba, and after Juanfran blocked Angel Di Maria's effort, Nkunku was on hand to poke home.
The Spanish side had more opportunities shortly before the break, but Rimane was on hand to clear Luciano Vietto's effort off the line with Trapp beaten. The goalkeeper came to the rescue soon after, though, with a fine stop to deny Antonio Moya's shot from distance.
Here's a selection of highlights from the first 45 minutes (U.S. viewers only):
PSG boss Thomas Tuchel changed all 10 of his outfield players at half-time, but despite the potential disruption that might have caused, the Ligue 1 outfit were on top for much of the second half.
Timothy Weah threatened and was perhaps unfortunate not to receive a penalty after being brought down by Antonio Adan, while in the 67th minute, Diaby crashed a sensational effort on to the crossbar from 20 yards.
Four minutes later, the youngster had his goal when Weah picked him out following some loose defending from Atletico, and he fired low into the bottom corner.
Mollejo halved the deficit with 14 minutes of normal time remaining, converting his own rebound after Trapp kept out his initial effort from a corner.
The comeback looked to be completed when Bernede diverted Borja's cross into his own net, but Postolachi conjured up a magnificent winner when he turned inside the D and curled home from 20 yards.