Ligue 1: PSG held in check by Nice (0-0)

We expected a spectacle. We especially saw a solid team from Nice defending well in front of a too intermittent PSG. At the Parc des Princes, the capital club remained silent, which allowed the Gym to snatch a point from its trip to Paris (0-0). This result almost allows Mauricio Pochettino’s men, deprived of Neymar, to validate the title of autumn champion, since it would take a miracle for OM to delight them. On the other hand, he ejects the Aiglons from the podium. This is the second game in a row without a win for the players of Christophe Galtier, now fourth.

PSG fell on a hell of a bone. In the absence of Neymar, on the flank for several weeks, Mauricio Pochettino has aligned an attacking trio made up of Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria. And we have to admit that he will have lacked connections for 90 minutes, with a view to overturning a solidary block which defended the lead. Difficult to get around, the Nice wall posed serious problems for the Parisians, who also had to deal with a Walter Benitez of the great evenings. In the first period, he had to make a double save by stopping a shot from Mbappé, then removing the ball from Idrissa Gueye (27th). Gianluigi Donnarumma gave him the answer a few seconds later, with a reflex tap on a powerful header from Andy Delort (32nd).

PSG too clumsy in the face of a Nice in wall mode

After the break, PSG tried to put a little boost to try to crush the Nice people who managed, despite everything, to resist physically. Again, Benitez donned his savior costume. He threw himself perfectly into the feet of Di Maria, after a nice one-two between Messi and Mbappé (51st). In the process, he lay down well on a tense strike from Nuno Mendes (52nd). The Gym keeper was in a state of grace this Wednesday evening, and he was well helped by the clumsiness of the Parisian players (5 shots on target in 22 attempts), like Mbappé’s failure on a bright pass from Messi ( 64th). Proceeding against the few balls they were able to touch, the Niçois almost carried out the hold-up, but Kasper Dolberg hit the post on a cross from Hicham Boudaoui, while the goal was empty (58th).

On arrival, the Parisians never really gave the impression that they could obtain a 14th victory in 16 contested days, despite a clear domination in the game (nearly 70% of possession). Whatever, they still have 12 points ahead of Olympique de Marseille, which goes back to second place. PSG are not yet mathematically autumn champions, but it’s just like. Opposite, we feel that the end of the year is a little more complicated for the Aiglons, who have won only once in their last four outings in the league. The holidays are likely to do a lot of good to the organizations of the championship’s co-best defense (12 goals conceded, like OM). Who will therefore have resisted the best attack.