Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a controversial penalty as Paris Saint-Germain snatched a 1-1 draw at French Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyonnias on Sunday.
Champions PSG could have gone top with victory, but needed a highly contentious retaken penalty just to earn a share of the spoils at the Stade de Gerland.
They remain two points behind Lyon and level with second-placed Olympique de Marseille.
Photo: AFP
Swedish giant Ibrahimovic saw his first penalty attempt saved by goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, but he had another chance seconds later when the referee decided Lyon players had encroached on the penalty area too early.
“If you follow the rules, it’s a fair decision. It was a nice game, but we should have won it. [Lyon goalkeeper Anthony] Lopes had some nice saves, but we should have scored,” the 33-year old striker said after the game.
On his second try, he made no mistake, equalizing in the 69th minute.
“I stopped the first penalty, so it’s tough to see the referee giving a second one. It’s a shame, I don’t know what else to say,” Lopes said. “There is no anger, just frustration.”
With Ligue 1 top scorer Alexandre Lacazette out injured, the young Lyon side held its own thanks to a fine performance from Lopes.
They even took a surprise early lead through Cameroon youngster Clinton N’Jie on 31 minutes, his second goal of the season, following a clever one-two with Nabil Fekir.
Ibrahimovic lost all of his duels with Lopes while Edinson Cavani and David Luiz both failed to convert chances, leaving PSG coach Laurent Blanc frustrated.
“When you have the chances, you need to score because you never know what can happen next,” Blanc said.
PSG pressed relentlessly in the second half and Ibrahimovic came close with headers twice that forced Lopes into excellent saves.
Lyon could have extended their lead late on, but Fekir and Arnold Mvuemba missed good chances,
and the leaders will feel hard done by after the retaken penalty, despite maintaining their advantage at the top of the table.
“We played a very good PSG side so we’re happy to get that draw. We had to show sacrifice and solidarity,” Lyon coach Hubert Fournier said.
AS Monaco’s recent charge up the standings came to a shuddering halt when they conceded a first goal in over 800 minutes to fall 1-0 at ten-man En Avant de Guingamp.
The result leaves Monaco fifth on 40 points while AS Saint Etienne have 41 in fourth, but only the top three in France qualify for the Champions League.
In Sunday’s other game, OGC Nice were held at home to a 0-0 draw by Nantes, leaving both teams on 33 points in eighth and ninth position respectively.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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