PSG-Monaco: the shock kept its promises, Donnarumma relapses... Favorites and scratches

FAVORITES

Ligue 1 too boring, not enough goals? Quite the opposite of what took place on Friday on the lawn of the Parc des Princes, during this Ligue 1 summit between PSG and AS Monaco (5-2). The two best attacks in the French championship, the first against the third, great players on both sides: everything came together for a great evening of football. And the shock kept all its promises, especially in the first period, with an ASM which “did not want to hide in Paris”, says Adi Hütter. His players stayed true to their philosophy, pressing high and playing everything for the attack. It made for a lively, enjoyable, intense match. With superb goals to boot. The second half was more closed, choppy, but still at a high level. And PSG delighted with new very good goals, including the first from Ousmane Dembélé (see elsewhere). In short, this PSG-Monaco represents very good advertising for Ligue 1, which really needs it at the moment.

SEE ALSO - Lisandro, Dubois, Traoré: OL's best goals against LOSC

Deprived of Warren Zaire-Emery, Luis Enrique chose to start Fabian Ruiz alongside Manuel Ugarte and Vitinha. Good pick. After a lackluster first season in Paris, the Spanish midfielder finds himself in the position of replacement, notably behind the 17-year-old titi. He perfectly seized the opportunity given to him on Friday, with a full match, several classy inspirations and two assists. Knowing that “WZE” is out for the rest of the year, it would be excellent news if he could continue at this level, having been blacklisted by Luis Enrique when the latter was at the head of the Spanish selection . He is very happy to have her in Paris now.

Finally ! It took him 16 matches to score his first goal in his new colors. Ousmane Dembélé shook the nets on Friday evening, just before going out. “A 100% pure Ousmane Dembélé goal”, as Luis Enrique laughed. Pigeon wing from the left, the good run, the “minasse” at the near post on the right. Jewel. But beyond this goal, “Ous” had an almost perfect match, involved in the first three goals. Particle accelerator, it progresses from match to match in terms of accuracy. Obviously, it should be noted that he is often one on one, unlike Kylian Mbappé for example. In addition, he can count on Achraf Hakimi to combine. Still, this Ousmane Dembélé is terrible. And it’s also a treat to see him evolve.

CLAW STRIKES

“My apologies for my mistake.” Gigio Donnarumma made his mea culpa on social networks after PSG-Monaco. Once again, he showed disconcerting feverishness at the foot, offering the equalizing goal to Minamino in the first period. However, he had been better at it lately. The relapse. “Mistakes are part of football. I think he was brilliant. He got up after this mistake,” noted Luis Enrique. And it's true that the Italian was as feverish on the restart as... brilliant on his line Friday evening. In the second half, he didn't get bored, swinging big blocks towards his attackers instead of taking risks. Here too, as Luis Enrique said, it is interesting to point out that Donnarumma did not give up after this blunder. The feet are twisted but the hands and the head, that's fine for the former last bastion of AC Milan, that's already it.

Also read “Almost four goals against our camp”: Monaco coach, Hütter criticizes “big mistakes” against PSG

To have a great match, it takes two. We are therefore not going to explain to you that AS Monaco did not exist on Friday evening. However, we would have liked Adi Hütter's players to go the distance to keep the suspense going. The Austrian coach has his idea on the matter: “It’s an easy match to analyze, we made four big mistakes and that’s far too many against PSG… It’s almost four goals against our camp!”, a- he railed on Amazon Prime Video. Among these errors, there is that of Philipp Köhn, who offered the opener on a plate to Gonçalo Ramos. It's not the only one in the match for AS Monaco, who were punished by "clinical" Parisians, says Falorin Balogun. The latter could also have represented a major blow in itself... if he had not raised the level of his overall performance with a small goal, that of hope, in the second half.