Ander Herrera (second from right) cheers after scoring PSG’s second goal against Clermont on Saturday. – REUTERS
Welcome to Sportstar’s live commentary on the PSG vs Clermont Ligue 1 game on Saturday. This is Nihit Sachdeva walking you through all of the action that unfolds at Parc Des Princes Stadium.
Lionel Messi (right) watches his team Paris Saint-Germain’s home game against Clermont at Parc des Princes on Saturday. – REUTERS
Lionel Messi (right) watches his team Paris Saint-Germain’s home game against Clermont at Parc des Princes on Saturday. – REUTERS
Pochettino could not have asked more of his team before the first half. The source of the goals may not have been what many would have expected, but PSG are still halfway through another home win.
45 ‘Despite the absence of the two South American stars, it was a dominant performance in Mauricio’s first half Pochettino.
43 ‘Hakimi has a chance as Allevinah enters the PSG box from the left. Herrera falls to the ground. The shot comes to the corner.
41 ‘High defense by Clermont gave PSG many counter opportunities and used them.
39′ Kimpembe comes into the Clermont penalty area and hits Draxler in the center. Draxler falsifies the shot once and then scores, but the Clermont defender in front of Desmas heads the ball away.
36 ‘Clermont free-kick to Samed von Gueye. But Berthomier’s free kick doesn’t even get past the PSG wall.
31 ‘GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL !!!!!! PSG 2-0 Clermont – it’s that man again! Ander Herrera scores his second goal of the game and guess what, it’s a rebound again. Stunning run by Mbappe on the right, just too strong for the Clermont defender. Mbappe takes the shot, which Desmas duly stops to his left, but Herrera bangs the rebound into the empty goal.
29 ‘Diallo free-kick to Zedadka and Clermont to the right in the PSG penalty area.
28 ‘Easy work for Donnarumma. Nice skill from Dossou in the PSG penalty area, who then fired the shot, but the Italian goalkeeper didn’t have to move much to catch the ball.
26 ‘Mbappe makes another good run from the left, skips a defender and shoots off, Desmas holds the ball on his left.
23 ‘After a long VAR check, the game continues and PSG is displaced in the attack. Hakimi delivers an excellent pass to Pereira in the Clermont penalty area. Gueye’s shot was on target, but was easily blocked by a falling Clermont defender.
20 ‘GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL !!!!!! PSG 1-0 Clermont – brilliant run by Draxler from the right, who fires a shot that is held by Desmas, but the rebound finds Herrera in the center of the box, who calmly heads it to put the championship leaders in the lead. There is a VAR check to see if Mbappe, who was in an offside position, made the last contact with the ball but the goal stands.
18 ‘Both teams have so far failed to test the opposing goalkeeper . Some Clermont fouls disrupted the smooth play of PSG.
16 ‘Dossou shoots the ball into the PSG penalty area, hoping to find one of his team-mates to tap the ball, but PSG blocks it. Clermont hits the rebound and the ball goes out for a throw-in.
13 ‘Dossou has a chance to take a corner from Diallo, but Diallo shields the ball well.
10′ BOOKING – Yellow card for Zedadka after a foul to Mbappe near the Clermont penalty area. Mbappe sends a crazy free kick into the box and Marquinhos heads it, but Desmas catches it comfortably.
8 ‘CORNER – Rafinha takes a short corner. Draxler gets the ball and sends a shot over the crossbar.
6 ‘Rafinha with the ball in the Clermont penalty area searches for space for a shot, but fails and gives his teammate a back pass.
4 ‘Mbappe can initially throw a lot of lightning bolts to the left, but the Clermont defender takes the ball slightly.
3′ Dossou is looking for a foul on the center line, but the whistle does not come.
1 ‘Stable start of both teams, who pay attention to possession in the first minutes.
PSG XI (4-3-3): Donnarumma (GK); Abdou Diallo, Hakimi, Kimpembe, Marquinhos (c); Ander Herrera, Danilo Pereira, Gueye; Draxler, Mbappe, Rafinha
Clermont Foot 63 XI (4-3-3): Desmas (GK); Zedadka, Hountondji, Ogier (c), N’Simba; Abdul Samed, Berthomier, Gastien; Dossou, Hamel, Allevinah
The next challenge for leaders Paris Saint-Germain is the home game against Clermont Foot 63 on Saturday.
Both teams have played four games each so far. While PSG have won all of their games and are comfortably at the top of the table, Clermont is not too far behind with two wins and two draws and is in third place.
Mauricio Pochettino has to face his South American stars Lionel Messi, Neymar and Angel Di Maria do without, as they all represented their countries in the World Cup qualifying almost 36 hours before kick-off.
That also means that Paris will have to wait a little longer for Messi’s home debut.
There are doubts about the fitness of Kylian Mbappe, who left the French camp with a calf injury that he suffered in the first World Cup qualifier of the international break against Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, Pochettino said at a press conference that he expected Mbappe to recover in time for the game.
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