Ligue 1 McDonalds, Round 18, 18/01/2025
In the first match of Ligue 1's Saturday offering, Lens played the role of hosts as they welcomed Ligue 1 champions to the Stade Bollaert-Delelis for their third meeting of the season. The two sides also met in the Coupe de France.
The opening process was quite dominant from the visitors in possession of the ball, but resulted in few chances in front of goal. Lens' defensive line looked defensively untroubled, hoping to catch the Ligue 1 champions on the counter-attack.
Against the run of play, Lens took the lead in the 36th minute through M'Bala Nzola. The Angolan saw a poorly cleared corner fall to him and after excellent control he calmly finished at Donnrumma's near post to give his side the lead.
NZola thought he had doubled his side's lead when he broke away behind and finished from a tight angle, but his celebrations were halted by the offside flag. Shortly afterwards, PSG were equal. Malang Sarr failed to deal with a ball from behind and Barcola reached into his pocket to direct the ball to Fabián Ruiz for an easy finish past Koffi.
After scoring the first goal, Barcola won the match for PSG by scoring the second goal. Played into space by João Neves, the former Lyon drifted in before powering his shot past Koffi, who was hopeless to stop the France international's attempt.
Hervé Koffi – 5
Przemysław Frankowski – 5
Jonathan Gradit – 6
On the rare occasions when PSG clicked in attack, the defender proved a crucial supporting presence at the back for Lens. His recovery and spatial awareness nullified the visitors' attacking threat. He almost won the match for his side late on, but was denied by Donnarumma.
Malang Sarr – 4
Facundo Medina – 6
Deiver Machado – 6
Andy Diouf – 5
Adriaan Thomasson – 5
Florian Sotoca – 5
M'Bala Nzola – 7
PSG, a constant threat in the penalty area, were unable to contain the Angolan international at times. With great positioning and balance, the attacker had several opportunities. He got his goal brilliantly with excellent touch and finishing.
Goduine Koyalipou – 5
Gianluigi Donnarumma – 4
When called upon, the Italian international stopper failed to deliver. Donnarumma was beaten twice from tight angles, with the second knocked down by the offside flag. Donnarumma looked vulnerable between the sticks and cast further doubt over his long-term future as PSG's number one.
Lucas Beraldo – 5
Willian Pacho – 4
Lucas Hernández – 6
Nuno Mendes – 5
Fabian Ruiz – 6
Vitinha – 4
Warren Zaire-Emery – 5
Désiré Doué – 6
Lee Kang In – 4
Bradley Barcola – 7
For most of the match, PSG's attack looked disjointed. However, in the second half, the French international again proved to be the difference maker for his team. He showed great desire to win the ball back in an advanced area before creating their first goal and then great finishing ability as his powerful shot gave Les Parisiens their second goal.
GFFN | Liam Wraith
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