Angel Di Maria struck the winner as Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain won 1-0 at Rennes on Friday to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
The Argentina winger scored in the 75th minute after being set up by Brazilian winger Lucas, giving him the perfect confidence-booster before PSG’s trip to play Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Di Maria played for four seasons for Madrid before joining Manchester United last season, but it was an unhappy spell in northern England and he joined PSG in the off-season.
Photo: AFP
“It will do him a lot of good, he’s a great player,” PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi said. “He just needs to adapt to our league, and I hope he has a great game on Tuesday.”
PSG coach Laurent Blanc rested star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic ahead of the game in Madrid and PSG lacked sharpness in a dour first half.
The match turned when Marco Verratti came off the bench and 10 minutes later started the move for the goal.
Photo: AFP
Collecting the ball outside the PSG penalty area, the Italy midfielder advanced and then hit a superb cross-field pass to pick out Brazilian winger Lucas as he sprinted down the left.
Lucas took the ball in his stride and clipped a well-weighted pass toward the penalty area, where Di Maria finished with a neat low volley into the right corner for his third league goal in eight games.
“We were much better in the second half and we deserved the win,” Matuidi said. “We’re full of confidence, and it was important to win here before going to Madrid.”
Photo: AFP
Rennes struggled to create chances, but went close in the 84th when Brazilian midfielder Pedro Henrique fired a shot wide of the left post.
Tempers frayed at the end as PSG midfielder Thiago Motta squared up to Rennes’ Abdoulaye Doucoure after Doucoure had shoved him.
PSG lead second-place Angers by 10 points ahead of this weekend’s matches.
Angers travel to play Monaco today.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care