There was victory and a comfortable score for Paris this Saturday against Le Havre. After having a draw in L1 at Lorient (1-1) and two narrow successes against Nice (1-0) and Lyon (3-2), Luis Enrique’s men gave themselves a little breathing room by regaining the lead in the championship, two points ahead of OM and Lens. The Parisian coach had said, the day before at a press conference, that “for the moment, compared to the circumstances that we faced, the victory is enough”, his players decided to show more by winning 3-0 against the Normans, four days before facing Tottenham, right here at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League.
The “real” Knight is back
The story could have been very different without a monstrous save from Lucas Chevalier at 0-0 (25th), but after this inconsequential scare, the Parisians, led by Neves, Lee and even Zaire-Emery, were able to step on the accelerator to make the difference. “It was important to win, we knew that Marseille was in front so we had to win in style,” reacted Bradley Barcola, scorer of the third goal, his 5th of the season. “I had a little rest during the break so I felt very good and scoring allows me to regain my confidence,” he added to the broadcaster’s microphone.
Same enthusiasm from Lucas Chevalier who after having experienced difficult days since his “accidental” pro-RN like, certainly had his best match with PSG. “These are difficult matches after the break. Le Havre kept its promise to pick us up. They put us in difficulty, they’re a great team. We win 3-0, it’s good for the difference and the confidence, it’s very positive. »
The results are all the more so as the infirmary was also emptied with the unexpected return as starter of Nuno Mendes, credited with a good rating of 6 in our newspaper. Victim of a sprained left knee against Bayern Munich on November 4, the Portuguese is already on his feet and in good shape to help the team at this difficult end to the year (seven matches in 28 days).
Author of a good cross for Kang-in Lee’s opener, he did not seem to feel any discomfort likely to awaken the pain. Paris now expects to recover Ousmane Dembélé, “in the final stages of recovery” and who will test himself during the next two collective sessions, Monday and Tuesday, to establish with certainty his presence in the group against Spurs on Wednesday evening.
Dembélé expected against Tottenham
While Gonçalo Ramos is still struggling in his ability to take on the role of starter up front, the presence of the Ballon d’Or appears to be crucial in the longer term. In the meantime, Paris, which had neither Pacho, nor Marquinhos, nor Ruiz, nor Kvaratskhelia at kick-off and which still has to cope without the last injured Hakimi and Doué, is satisfied with the good results which it continues to garner.
“We’re coming back from the break, we had to get back into the swing of things. This victory does us good and gives us confidence before the Tottenham match. We will do everything to win it,” announced young Senny Mayulu. This will be an opportunity for Paris, 5th in the league phase with 9 points out of 12 possible, to get going again, after conceding an infuriating defeat against Bayern at the start of the month. A accident to forget for Parisians.
