Man of the Match: Angel Di Maria
PSG stays on the top after sealing a narrow 2-1 win over Lille in the early week 12 fixture, however, the three points were not exactly captured easily. The spectre of failure from last season still haunted them. The criticism on Messi’s not extraordinary form so far, especially in the domestic fixtures, seems to be justified, at least in this game despite performing well in the Champions League.
PSG was struggling to break a deadlock despite featuring their supposedly the second best trident with Messi, Neymar and Angel Di Maria upfront, as Kylian Mbappe is sidelined due to his minor injury. Yet, they were mainly closed down in the final third. They barely had a decent chances at the first half while the reigning champion had a few. Burak Yilmaz’s powerful strike from the right side of Le Parisien’s defence was denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma. The home side in fact conceded first through Jonathan David.
At the second half, Messi was eventually substituted by Mauro Icardi. PSG was still striving to find the equaliser. After knocking on the doors, they at last managed to break the deadlock as Marquinhos found the back of the net from a clinical finish which Icardi or Messi should have. Their winning goal came late and it was Angel Di Maria who scored after exchanging a quick one-two passes with Neymar.
The 33-year old Argentine winger deserved to be named the man of the match. He showed his dominance on the attacking phase, penetrated Lille’s defence with his acceleration and also crosses too. Providing an assist and bagging a decisive goal should suffice his excellent contributions in this game.
Find out more in details about Di Maria’s stats below:
Rating: 9.14
Minutes played: 90+
Pass accuracy %: 88.2
Goal contribution: 1 goal 1 assist
Shots (on target): 6(4)
Dribbles: 1
Touches: 72
Crosses completion: 12
Key Passes: 5
Tackles: 1
Interceptions: 1
Meanwhile, Lille eventually had to lose again although their Canadian forward, Jonathan David, was in-form here. He netted an opener and had several opportunities to add his tally. The 21-year old striker was also involved in the defense side by making two tackles. Nevertheless, that did not help the team to even pick up a point on the road, despite taking an early lead. He needs to improve his consistency to bring Lille’s form back to their winning ways in their next outing.
Check out more about Jonathan David’s stats below:
Rating: 7.31
Minutes played: 90
Pass accuracy %: 80
Goal contribution: 1 goal
Shots (on target): 4 (2)
Touches: 33
Key Passes: 1
Aerial duels won: 1
Tackles: 2
MyMOTM 