While the Merlus took the time to celebrate their success with the supporters, the Parisians did not hold back this Wednesday evening on the Moustoir lawn. Three weeks after their exploit on the lawn of the Parc des Princes (0-1) – also synonymous with the start of a series of good matches with a victory in Nantes (1-2) and a draw against Marseille (2-2) -, they came across a solid team from Lorient and saw their adventure in the Coupe de France end in the round of 16.
This is already the end of this enchanted little parenthesis and there is no longer any bonus competition for Paris FC this season. “There is disappointment,” regretted Julien Lopez, captain for the evening. We came to qualify, I think we started the match well but afterwards we didn’t capitalize on our chances. We pushed and pushed in the second half, we had a few situations, Ciro (Immobile) almost scored his first goal but then we took a counterattack. »
Paris FC initially withstood the shock despite a largely reshuffled starting lineup. With recruits Marshall Munetsi, Luca Koleosho and Diego Coppola lined up from the start, he ended up breaking down shortly before the hour mark. “I have regrets perhaps at the start of the match, in the first fifteen minutes, because I think it was coherent, with mastery,” noted Stéphane Gilli, the Parisian coach, at a press conference. But over the whole meeting, we can’t have too many regrets. (…) We got disorganized, we had a lot of transitions, Lorient put us in difficulty and we narrowly missed. »
“Maintain yourself as quickly as possible”
The Merlus, also promoted to Ligue 1 this season, seized their chance and took advantage of it to continue their very solid series of 12 games without defeat. For Paris FC, the time has already come for remobilization and the quest for its primary objective: to stay and last in Ligue 1.
“We are going to refocus directly on Auxerre, to take points there and maintain ourselves as quickly as possible,” said Julien Lopez. “As we have said from the start, what matters to us is to keep Paris FC in the first division,” confirmed Stéphane Gilli at a press conference. We would have liked to play on both counts but that stops now so focus on the championship and this match on Sunday. »
Scheduled for 5 p.m. this February 8, the meeting against a competitor from the bottom of the table (17th) could allow the Parisians to take shelter and move a little further away from the relegation zone. 14th with 21 points in the standings, Paris FC could have a 10-point lead over FC Nantes, 16th with 14 points. “There is a big match to play, we have not yet taken the three points but it is certain that a victory there would be important in the race to maintain,” explained Stéphane Gilli. But Auxerre is a good team, and I think that its ranking does not reflect the quality of play that we see. Often, they are not missing much so you have to expect a complicated match. »
A sign that Paris FC should be wary: the first leg at the end of November ended in a sad 1-1. “Technically speaking, in the duels, we had a non-match, we didn’t deserve anything better,” regretted Ilan Kebbal, his team’s only scorer from a penalty. A success at Abbé Deschamps is all the more important as the capital club will host RC Lens the following weekend, second in the championship.
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