TOPS
Not used last Sunday, Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé responded on Wednesday, during PSG’s victory in Lorient (1-4). A double for the first, a double for the second. “Dembouz” stood out in particular with a solo festival for his first goal of the evening. “KM” sang the song to Adjei before serving Dembélé. Actions in the form of a symbol. The two stars took this match very seriously, and in particular Kylian Mbappé, who we regularly saw making defensive efforts. It’s rare enough to be stressed !
Seven duels won, more than 90% of successful passes, five possessions recovered in the middle… Starting for the second time in Ligue 1, the young (17 year old) Senny Mayulu took full advantage of the opportunity to shine. He also became a decisive passer on the first goal of the match, even if Dembélé did 99% of the work. It still counts. One thing is certain: Mayulu scored many more points than his U19 comrade Yoram Zague, also 17 years old, who lost too many balls and (especially) duels to be among the successes of the day.
If Lorient had a little hope at the end of the match, it was notably thanks to the players coming off the bench. Coach Le Bris trusted Benjamin Mendy, Badredine Bouanani (61st), Laurent Abergel, Mohamed Bamba (68th) and Panos Katseris (79th). Abergel brought all his energy into the heart of the game, where Bouanani’s technique did good. Katseris’ throws to the right helped. And Mendy is to be credited with a superb cross on Bamba’s goal. In the game or on the scoreboard, the Lorient coach’s choices were crowned with success this Wednesday evening. Obviously, not enough to overthrow a much too strong PSG… Julien Ponceau is also part of Lorient’s satisfaction at the end of this match. Ayman Kari too. The latter is loaned to the Breton club until the end of the season by… Paris-SG.
FLOPS
In his defense, there is enough to lose his head against Dembélé. He won’t be the last. Nonetheless, Isaak Touré had a bad evening. The former Marseillais showed off his excitement from the start, with an unsteady restart which led to a strike from Mbappé (17th). He then shone with his passivity on the goal of “Dembouz” (19th) and was regularly caught out by the speed and technical qualities of the 26-year-old French international winger. Ridiculed by Mbappé, poor Nathaniel Adjei did not shine much better in this meeting, on the other side of the defense trio… Note that the former Monegasque Tiémoué Bakayoko also failed in the middle.
Very fit in recent weeks in the championship, and author of a double last Sunday against OL, Gonçalo Ramos continued in the 11 but not in terms of level of performance. The Portuguese striker touched 16 balls, never managing to position himself and exist between the arrows of Mbappé and Dembélé. A blow for nothing. Entering his place in the second half (62nd), Randal Kolo Muani did not shine any further…
Clearly, it’s hard to show off when you’re the starting striker for Lorient… The Merlus have been down offensively for many weeks. Brilliant when he arrived in Brittany, Bamba has been marking time recently. Le Bris therefore revived Elie Kroupi Jr. Failed. Lost duels, bad choices… Not much to eat for the Franco-Ivorian attacker, not a success like this cross on which he is too short (34th). And as if on purpose, it was said Bamba who scored.
