Paris Saint-Germain did themselves no favors on Sunday evening as they battled to a scoreless draw against rivals Olympique de Marseille at the Parc des Princes. As it stands, Les Parisiens trail OGC Nice by six points in the table and Unai Emery is starting to feel the heat from supporters and the media.
PSG came into the match having beaten Marseille 10 times in a row and it was expected they would make it 11. However, new manager Rudi Garcia had his Marseille squad set up brilliantly—defensively speaking—and they deserved no less than a point. Emery on the other hand needs to make improvements to the team after yet another deflating performance. Here is my “Good & Bad” from the latest edition of Le Classique.
The Good
Thiago Silva
As if by an act of magic, the Brazil international brilliantly bounced back after being harshly criticized in my previous article. O Monstro was as solid as ever and marshalled a stellar defence that limited Garcia’s team to zero shots on goal. His defensive prowess was highlighted in the 69th minute he executed a superb goal-saving tackle and won back possession. His overall performance earned him an 8.2 rating by Whoscored.com, the highest of any PSG player.
Marseille: Managed just one touch in the Paris Saint-Germain penalty area in their 0-0 draw #PSGOM pic.twitter.com/nT8mELyPGB
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) October 23, 2016
The Bad
Angel Di Maria
The Argentina international was the one who found himself on the bad side of my column this week after previously being featured as a standout performer. Against Les Olympiens, Di Maria was shockingly poor and was eventually subbed off in the 75th minute for Jesé Rodriguez (who was an immediate upgrade). According to Whoscored.com, El Fideo recorded five shots on goal (only one on target), 73 percent passing completion, and was dispossed two times—all of which led to his abyssmal 6.7 rating.
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Photograph by FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images
Fideo should be dropped away at Lille. Has been almost useless thus far in the campaign!