It will probably take more to redeem the support of the Parisian public, but PSG did the job, Sunday, April 3, against Lorient, and did it well. On the occasion of the 30and day of Ligue 1, the players of Mauricio Pochettino easily won 5 to 1 thanks to goals from Lionel Messi, Neymar and especially Kylian Mbappé, who added three assists to his two achievements to sign a new capital performance.
If a spectator went to the Park for the first time for this meeting, he must have been very surprised by the atmosphere. Annoyed by the recent performances of PSG, and in particular elimination in the knockout stages of the Champions League against Real Madrid or the stinging defeat against Monaco (3-0) on the last day of the championship, the ultras had decided to mark their dissatisfaction by being silent during the meeting.
In this icy context, the PSG players still managed to take the match from the right end and quickly opened the scoring by Neymar, perfectly served by Mbappé for the opener (1-0, 12and). The beginning of the recital for the French international, still excellent with the Blues against South Africa during the international break. A few minutes later, it was he who came to close his right foot to deceive Matthieu Dreyer, the Lorient goalkeeper, and allow PSG to make the break (2-0, 28and).
Double from Neymar
Serious without being brilliant, the Parisians were still scared when they returned from the locker room. Not necessarily very focused on this shot, Achraf Hakimi was guilty of a bad back pass for Marquinhos which Terem Moffi took advantage of to get ahead of the Brazilian and reduce the score against Donnarumma (2-1, 55and).
” At 2-1, there was a real thing to do, especially if we remained compact “, noted the Lorientais Enzo Le Fée at the end of the meeting, at the microphone of Prime Video. Yes, but now, Kylian Mbappé had decided not to let FCL hope and to put on his now usual PSG savior costume. A few minutes after the Lorient goal, he received a pass from Hakimi and scored twice with a delicious cross shot (3-1, 67and).
After putting his club back on track, the former Monegasque turned into a brilliant passer for his attacking friends. It was first Lionel Messi who found himself receiving a ball from Mbappé to send a shot from the left under the bar of a helpless Matthieu Dreyer (4-1, 73and). The French international finally concluded his festival by serving Neymar in the last minutes of the match (5-1, 90and).
” We are happy for the victory. We must continue to win and show that we want to get this tenth title. Losing is hard, that’s what happened against Madrid. We really wanted to go to the end of this competition, I know it’s very hard for the public. You should know that for us it is also difficult explained the Brazilian after the match.
Mbappé says he has not yet decided on his future
For his part, Kylian Mbappé, whose contract with the capital club ends at the end of the season, said he had not yet made a decision on his future. “No, I didn’t make my choice (…) There are new elements, there are lots of parameters, I’m thinking”, he said at the microphone of Prime Video after the meeting. Relaunched to find out if he would still be at PSG next year, when he is particularly coveted by Real Madrid, he replied: ” Who knows ? We do not know… “
If the evening victory does not change much for PSG in its quest for the tenth domestic title in its history (the Parisians are 12 points ahead of their runner-up, Marseille), it has several merits. Already, this is the first time that Messi, Neymar and Mbappé have all scored in the same meeting, a sign that their association is starting to run at full speed.
Above all, it allows PSG to put their heads back in place for the end of the season and especially for the match against OM (April 17), surely the last big deadline for the capital club before the summer. If the Parisians want to put the Park back in their pocket, they would be well advised to offer him a victory against their rival.