Match in Photos: PSG Come From Behind to Defeat Lyon

By Ed - 20 March 2017, 4:43

Paris Saint-Germain kept their title hopes alive on Sunday with a gritty 2-1 win over Olympique Lyonnais at the Parc des Princes. It was the first match at home for the capital club since their UEFA Champions League exit and the victory keeps them three points behind league leaders AS Monaco.

Alexandre Lacazette drew first blood in the sixth minute after shambolic defending from PSG off a corner. Marquinhos failed to mark Rafael and his flick-on set up Lacazette for an easy tap-in header with Maxwell trailing behind him. It was poor all around for the PSG defense that hasn’t looked sharp recently. Shortly after the goal, PSG were lucky to not allow another off a corner as a scramble in front of goal led to Maxwell clearing the ball off the line.

Unai Emery’s men were eventually able to settle into the game and Javier Pastore was a big part of that. The Argentine was absolutely brilliant on the night and helped set up both of PSG’s goals. In the 34th minute, El Flaco patiently waited for the defense to open up before playing a give-and-go with Angel Di Maria. Sprinting towards goal, Pastore drew the defense towards him and then played a perfect cross to Adrien Rabiot who fired in PSG’s first goal on the night. After the match, Pastore admitted that it felt good to play in his favorite position (behind the three strikers).

With the game tied, PSG pressed on and six minutes after Rabiot’s goal, Julian Draxler put Les Parisiens into the lead with an excellent finish off yet another Pastore pass. The goal was Draxler’s seventh in all competitions since joining the club in January and would prove to be enough to secure the three points.

It was a great performance from PSG in that they showed heart and determination after going down a goal. These are not traits usually associated with Emery’s team, especially following the 6-1 loss to FC Barcelona. Needing a win after Monaco extinguished Stade Malherbe Caen earlier in the day, Paris went to work and did just enough to come away with the win.

We made a few mistakes and lost the ball a bit. We came back strongly in the second half. A lot of people were disappointed with the Barcelona match, us first and foremost. But we still have matches to play this season and we are still fighting in other competitions. We need the fans.–Adrien Rabiot, PSG.fr

That being said, PSG should have scored more goals. Lyon were coming off a draining UEFA Europa League match at AS Roma and were gassed in the second half. A well-rested Paris side with Marco Verratti, Edinson Cavani, and Di Maria should have scored at least three or more goals on the night.

The capital club is now firmly in second place in the league–four points ahead of OGC Nice–and won’t return to Ligue 1 action until April 9 against EA Guingamp. Between now and then, Paris have the Coupe de la Ligue final against Monaco on April 1 and a Coupe de France quarterfinal match against amateur side US Avranches on April 5. By the time Paris host Guingamp, they could have an opportunity to surpass Monaco in the table if the results go their way.

Before we look too far ahead, take a look back at our favorite images from PSG’s win over Lyon and be sure to check back often for more opinion articles and our preview of the big Coupe de la Ligue final.