November 04, (THEWILL) – After a 2-2 draw at RB Leipzig, Paris Saint-Germain missed out on a chance to move within a point of qualifying for the Champions League’s last 16.
Mauricio Pochettino’s team had to come back from a goal down against the Bundesliga outfit, and they did so without Lionel Messi, who was injured, before losing their advantage in second-half stoppage time.
Leipzig drove the ball forward from the kick-off and Gianluigi Donnarumma and Marquinhos struggled to deal with their advances. Andre Silva was eventually penalised for offside as PSG nearly fell behind after ten seconds.
In the seventh minute, Leipzig took the lead. Silva wriggled his way between Presnel Kimpembe and Nuno Mendes into the channels and found former PSG player Christopher Nkunku with a wonderful cross, which the Frenchman headed home.
Danilo Pereira gave away a penalty following a poor trip on Silva, but Donnarumma easily saved the Portuguese’s spot kick helping to keep PSG in the game.
As Leipzig continued to dominate the opening stages, Konrad Laimer and Nkunku sent ferocious attempts wide, but PSG equalised against the flow of play following a brief period of excellence on the ball. The goal came about after some slick one-touch movement finished with Kylian Mbappe squaring for Georginio Wijnaldum to knock past Peter Gulacsi.
On the counter-attack, Les Parisiens continued to seem more dangerous. Neymar dropped deep to pick up Wijnaldum for a throughball to Angel Di Maria, whose shot was blocked.
Following a Marquinhos header from the next corner, the Dutchman had the ball in the net, but the goal was called out for offside. The decision was overturned by VAR, and Wijnaldum’s second goal of the evening was allowed to stand.
When Mbappe was presented one-on-one with Gulacsi in first-half stoppage time, he should have added a third, but he could not keep his attempt down.
Just after the break, the 22-year-old sensation was set up in the penalty area by Wijnaldum, who unselfishly teed him up, but his effort was surprisingly inaccurate.
Mbappe’s dismal night continued when Gulacsi was pushed into an actual save by the France international just after the hour mark, while Marquinhos stopped Angelino’s goal-bound shot at the other end.
Soon after, Leipzig substitute Dominik Szoboszlai somehow missed the target from close range, and as PSG shut up shop, VAR awarded the hosts a penalty when Kimpembe collided with Nkunku in the final minutes of regulation time.
With Silva replaced, Szoboszlai went up to take the penalty kick and struck the bottom corner to equalise.
The point was insufficient to keep Leipzig from relegation, and the result means that PSG has been replaced at the top of the group by Man City ahead of their match at the Etihad Stadium.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
