PLAYER RATINGS | Lyon 0-1 PSG: Lionel Messi goal enough for visitors

It was a third straight defeat for Lyon, but not for want of trying – PSG were made to work to stay top of the table as an Alexandre Lacazette-led home side constantly worked the defence. Les Gones fans could well have feared the worst after Lionel Messi opened the scoring within five minutes, slotting it into the bottom left corner after a great one-two with Neymar. The home side, though, very much put up a fight in the rest of the match.

The rest of the first half saw a rampant PSG string together chance after chance in the first twenty minutes, before Lyon slowly began to grow into the game and made it a far more open affair. The game followed much of the same dynamic after the break, as a resilient Lyon kept the visitors at bay but were ineffectual in front of goal. Despite some stellar defensive work from Anthony Lopes and Thiago Mendes, though, the hosts were unable to find the breakthrough.

Paris – 1

Gianluigi Donnarumma, 5

Achraf Hakimi, 5

Sergio Ramos, 7 – The Spaniard’s experience was vital in his team’s fourth straight clean sheet, keeping Dembélé and Toko Ekambi quiet with some assured and sometimes tricky defender.

Marquinhos, 5

Danilo, 5

Nuno Mendes, 6

Fabián, 5

Marco Verratti, 5

Lionel Messi, 7 – PSG’s best player tonight – aside from opening the scoring early on, the Argentine was constantly at the heart of the build-up and even continually dropped back to help

Neymar, 6

Kylian Mbappé, 3 – A decidedly poor game from the Frenchman tonight, who far too often sought to go it alone rather than get his head up – some decision-making which prevented PSG from putting the game beyond reach earlier.

Lyon – 0

Anthony Lopes, 8

Malo Gusto, 6

Thiago Mendes, 9 – The Brazilian was imperious – especially in the second half- and very much won his battle against an ineffectual Kylian Mbappé. A redemptive performance after being criticised of late.

Castello Lukeba, 7

Nicolás Tagliafico, 5

Tetê, 6

Corentin Tolisso, 5

Maxence Caqueret, 6

Karl Toko Ekambi, 5

Moussa Dembélé, 5

Alexandre Lacazette, 7 – A tireless performance from the former Arsenal man, who constantly tracked back and brought the ball forward in his team’s counter attacks. His finishing touch may have been lacking but it was a real captain’s performance.

Raphaël Jucobin

 

 

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