Julian Draxler scored in added time on Wednesday night and gave Paris Saint-Germain their first league win of the season, 1-0 at home to Metz.
PSG, deprived of many stars before kick-off, were playing with nine men when Draxler pounced on a rebound to nod PSG’s first goal of the league season.
“I’m very proud, it’s incredible, honestly. I still have to think about it because I still can’t believe it,” PSG manager Thomas Tuchel said after the match.
PSG, which started the game seriously impoverished, were reduced to 10 men after 65 minutes as center-back Abdou Diallou picked up a second yellow card and his team’s fourth of the season.
In the closing seconds, defender Juan Bernat, a substitute in the 63rd minute, limped out with a knee injury, leaving PSG, which had used all of his nine-man substitutions.
“All the fans can be proud, we still deserved to win, 9 to 11,” said Tuchel.
While the match was underway, the French league announced a ban on two games for Neymar and Leandro Paredes and six games for Layvin Kurzawa after red cards during a home defeat to Marseille on Sunday that ended in a brawl.
Another champion, Kylian Mbappe, remains in quarantine for the coronavirus while Thilo Kehrer and Marco Verratti are injured.
But striker Mauro Icardi, central defender Marquinhos and goalkeeper Keylor Navas have returned after periods of quarantine.
“We’ve put in a lot of effort, we’ve made a lot of changes, we’ve used a lot of players who haven’t trained for a while … with players who haven’t played in a long time,” said Tuchel. “But the effort is still there.”
PSG had opened the season with two defeats for the first time since 1984/85, losing by a goal to Lens and then Marseille.
They dominated possession again on Wednesday, but did not have an advantage until Draxler pounced in the closing seconds and saved them from starting a goalless-on-three goalless season for the first time in their 50’s history. years.
“At 11 we lost all chances, in the second half we were tired, it wasn’t easy to create chances, at 10 we still had two great chances, we keep making mistakes, we don’t score,” said Tuchel. “This team has once again shown that they have an extraordinary spirit.”
Metz manager Vincent Hogon blamed his team.
“We have ruined everything. If we lost tonight it is our fault, because we scored a goal in nine against 11”, he said “No, it is not allowed”.
av / pb / pvh / pb / pvh
