Unbeaten Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) drew to within a single point of Ligue 1 leaders Olympique de Marseille on Saturday with a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Lorient.
Lorient stunned the champions with Raphael Guerreiro’s tight shot opening the scoring on 42 minutes. However, PSG came back early in the second-half with goals from Edinson Cavani and substitute Jean-Christophe Bahebeck.
Marseille, who lost at Olympique Lyonnais last weekend, had 25 points ahead of their home game with Racing Club de Lens yesterday and PSG have 24, as these two giants of French soccer get ready to go head-to-head in Paris next weekend.
Photo: EPA
Later, Lyon held on to third spot on 23 points after two late strikes from Alexandre Lacazette gave them a 3-1 win at OGC Nice. His exploit puts him level-top scorer in Ligue 1 along with Marseille striker Andre Pierre Gignac, both with 10 goals.
AS Saint-Etienne also held onto fourth (21 points) after their 1-1 draw at LOSC Lille Metropole, where both ’keepers saved a penalty.
PSG maybe had one eye on their Champions League clash with APOEL of Cyprus in midweek, given the pedestrian nature of a sluggish first-half performance. However, they were given a rude awakening just before halftime.
Lorient came out of defense to launch a blistering break in their orange strip and yellow boots. Andre Ayew took the ball into the box and fed midfielder Guerreiro, who stunned PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu with his sudden tight-angled shot to make it 1-0.
“We played badly all over the pitch in the first half. But you saw straight away the difference in the second half, and we got a goal straight away and went in for the win,” the PSG ’keeper said.
The difference was indeed eye-catching as PSG moved up a gear.
A defense-splitting pass from Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore set up Cavani’s equalizer just after the break, the Uruguayan nimbly hoisting the ball over the onrushing ’keeper before executing his traditional rifle-shot goal celebration. It was his third goal in three starts.
Coach Laurent Blanc then made a double substitution, bringing on Marco Veratti for the misfiring Yohan Cabaye and Jean-Christophe Bahebeck for a tired-looking Ezequiel Lavezzi, and it paid immediate dividends.
Veratti fed Bahebeck as he ran into space and his shot flew home from a tight angle to send a wave of joy through a relieved PSG side.
In his post-match interview Blanc was taking no credit and instead blasted the sloppy attitude of his players.
“That was the worst first-half I’ve seen since becoming a coach. We we’re astonishingly poor,” Blanc said. “The players have to understand that games are won over 90 minutes and we can’t allow this to happen again.”
However, PSG can now look ahead to Sunday with confidence.
“We are hoping for a great show next week and a great performance from both teams, we’re all looking forward to it,” Sirigu said.
Elsewhere, former Chelsea winger Florent Malouda gave Metz a 3-2 win over Stade Malherbe Caen Calvados with a late penalty, Montpellier Herault beat Evian Thonon Gaillard 2-0 and up in Brittany En Avant de Guingamp climbed off the foot of the table with a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers SC Bastia.
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