Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Matchday 16, 18/12/24
Paris Saint-Germain landed a big blow in the fight for the Ligue 1 title, beating AS Monaco (2-4) to continue their unbeaten run in the league and extend their leap at the top to 10 points.
The Match
Monaco weren’t at the races in the first half as PSG continued the fine form that they showed against another European challenger, Olympique Lyonnais, at the weekend. Achraf Hakimi hit the post with a miscued cross before Bradley Barcola then forced Philipp Köhn into a save at his near post. Vanderson was forced to clip the ball off the line from João Neves’ flicked header and then came the contentious moment.
Breel Embolo put in Wilfried Singo. Honing in on goal, his heavy touch allowed Gianluigi Donnarumma to advance and close the angle. Singo got a shot away but a weak one and his follow-through caught the PSG goalkeeper flush in the face. Bloodied and bruised, Donnarumma went off, but Singo, already on a yellow, stayed on.
Les Parisiens took the lead minutes later through Désiré Doué, who finished Achraf Hakimi’s ball into the box first time for his first Ligue 1 goal for his new club. Köhn, in for the injured Radoslaw Majecki, was kept busy in goal and made a string of saves before the break, including a split-second one from a deflection off his own defender, Mohammed Salisu.
Monaco, ultimately, were lucky to go in just one goal behind. They made the most of their lifelines. Monaco restored parity from the penalty spot, where Eliesse Ben Seghir tucked home after a bobbling ball inside the box hit Marquinhos’ hand. Seven miniutes later and Les Monégasques had turned the game on its head with Breel Embolo clipping home Maghnes Akliouche’s cross to the front post.
But the lead did not last. Just four minutes later, PSG levelled the tie once again. Fabián Ruiz’s shot was well parried by Köhn but back into danger. Ousmane Dembelé was the first to react as he poked home. PSG then took a late lead as two substitues combined – Lee Kang-in finding the head of Gonçalo Ramos from a corner.
Takumi Minamino had the chance to level the scores but after some good work from Akliouche, he failed to tuck home. His shot was weak with the pass from the Frenchman slightly behind him. Lee almost gave PSG a fourth late on but his curled effort was tipped onto the post by Köhn. They did get their fourth through Dembélé, who held off Singo before chipping Köhn.
PSG continue their fine away form and continue their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season but of their 12 wins, this was their most important. “The question of the title would be difficult [if we lost],” said Akliouche pre-match. With the gap between PSG and Monaco now at 10 points, it is certainly a mountain to climb.
Monaco player ratings
Philipp Köhn – 7
He did his best to keep Monaco in this tie. His distribution was questionable throuhout but his shotstopping was not. He made a big save from Barcola early on, and even his save from Lee in the dying stages gave Les Monégasques hope of salvaging some kind of result.
Vanderson – 5
Mohammed Salisu – 4
Thilo Kehrer – 4
Wilfried Singo – 5
Lamine Camara – 3
A difficult match for the Senegalese midfielder, crowned CAF’s Young Player of the Year once again earlier this week. The game passed him by with his positioning in question many times whilst he lacked efficiency and clarity of thought on the ball.
Soungoutou Magassa – 4
Aleksandr Golovin – 5
Eliesse Ben Seghir – 6
Maghnes Akliouche – 7
In front of Didier Deschamps, Akliouche impressed in the second half after a quiet first 45 minutes. It was his incisive run that earned Monaco’s penalty and his inch-perfect ball that found Embolo for their second. He punctuated the match with moments of magic that will have certainly caught the eye of the France manager.
Breel Embolo – 6
PSG player ratings
Gianluigi Donnarumma – N/A
Replaced by Matvei Safonov (4) after a collision with Singo on the 21-minute mark.
Warren Zaïre-Emery – 5
Marquinhos – 4
Willian Pacho – 6
Achraf Hakimi – 7
Fabián Ruiz – 6
Vitinha – 5
João Neves – 6
Désiré Doué – 7
Doué is now making his mark at his new club after a difficult start. His range of passing was exquisite and when there was space to exploit, he exploited it. He got his first goal for PSG in Ligue 1 and took it expertly, first time.
Ousmane Dembélé – 8
There were reports of a thawing of tensions between Dembélé and Luis Enrique pre-match and it showed on the pitch. Dembélé was diligent in his defensive work, and showed predatory strikers instincts, that often evade him, on two occasions, reacting quickly for his first goal and breaking the offside trap and chipping past Köhn for the second. It was a real striker’s performance from the (false) 9.
Bradley Barcola – 6
GFFN | Luke Entwistle