PSG match reports

[Ed@PSG]

ROUND 1
PSG 7 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen

Relatively easy opener, with our 3 forwards all getting on the scored sheet. We opened up at 4 to try and give our defenders some tackling practice, but unfortunately, despite our opposition getting 41 chances we were only able to muster 4 tackles, rather than the customary 30-35%. Consequently, our keeper faced 24 shots, and expectedly conceded a couple of goals, but i will take a saves:goals ratio of 11 in any game.

With Roma, Barca, and Atletico all dropping points, its the big 2 at the summit. Real got a large slice of luck by not only facing a random, but one with only 4 defenders and tactical advantage, and benefitted from a massive 46 shots and crazy abs for their front 2.

ROUND 2
Celtic 1 - 3 PSG

Our record in the past and against Mati's teams have been poor, going all the way back to a CL final defeat on penalties, so this was a massive potential banana skin. We expected a defensive setup but believe our A game can blow most teams away. We were two up within 12 minutes. A tactical blunder resulted in us switching to 40123 on the half hour, which left us unbalanced. A few tactical switches later, and the home team pulled a goal back, and the game was beginning to look a little nervy. We shored things up a little by pulling Declan Rice back to sit just in front of the back 4, and managed to see out the game, grabbing a 3rd with the final kick of the game.

Pleasing to get this game out of the way, and 3 points. I usually struggle against Mati's teams, but this seemed to be a routine win with a dominant performance. We potentially went too gung ho at 2 up and will address that going forward. Next up is a top of the table clash which could see us put some space between ourselves and our rivals

ROUND 3
PSG 2 – 0 NAPOLI
A dominant performance at home against an unexpected 424L which I presume was a random. L can be a bit of a game killer, and to an extent it worked, limiting our usually prolific front line to just two goals. Ramos putr in a man of the match performance with 6 shots but failed to convert any of them. It was left to the Georgian and TAA to win the tie,

ROUND 4
Inter Milan 3 - 1 PSG

We went into the game top of the table boasting the only 100% record in EFL1. We matched Inter on shots, but unfortunately it was just one of those days when the weaker forwards score more goals against the better goalkeeper, than the better forwards score against the weaker goalkeeper. Nothing that you can do about these things. Disappointing that we led the game and got turned over. We drop to 4th in the table below todays opponents. and Real Madrid, and Barcelona.

ROUND 5
PSG 2 - 0 Lazio

Dominant performance against a team we struggled against last season under a different manager. Fortunately, they didnt play it mega defensive and stick 2xdms in front of the back five, else we may have struggled somewhat. Good shot count but 60% were off target and we had to settle for 2 goals from our 28 shots, which is disappointing given our quality in front of goal. Another clean sheet after the momentary lapse by Costa in the previous game conceding 3 goals from 6 shots faced.

ROUND 6
Barcelona 1 - 4 PSG

Another dominant performance against a team riding high. I cant remember the number of times i have told their manager that one forward doesnt often work, and if it wasnt for a moment of madness from my keeper, they would probably have drawn a blank here. We took an early lead, but got pegged back from the penalty spot, before Mbappe left the pitch on the half hour mark, reducing us down to ten men. We made a few changes and changed gear, Haaland put us in front just before half time, and doubled the lead not long after the restart. It was plain sailing from that point, with TAA getting his 5th of the season in the dying minutes.

An unexpected defeat for RM away at Bayern Munich puts us back at the top of the table. Hopefully we can hold on to it this time. Juventus seem to be the threat at the moment, and i suspect our game next week will be a top 2 clash.

ROUND 7
PSG 0 - 1 Sevilla
A rare home defeat for the french club. We started the game with Home advantage and tactical advantage, yet conceded in the first minute against 2 x 21 FWs. We then peppered the Sevilla goal, but were unable to get past the weaker GK. Despite having twice as many shots, the better GK, and far superior shooting stats, on this occasion we were unable to score, and we can only put it down to a bad beat.

ROUND 8
Monaco 2 - 2 PSG
An injury in the first minute to the player due to be swapped for EBH if we went behind stopped the substitution occurring. My fault that i have never anticipated this scenario, but it wont happen again. With a higher shot count, better GK and better FWs, i would still have expected to win this game, but again, first minute action against us, has cost us the game. Failure to win in back to back league games isnt great, and teams are starting to pull away at the top.

ROUND 9
PSG 0 - Juventus 1

Cannot remember the last time i had back to back home defeats. Things not great at PSG at the moment, and changes may be needed. I naively thought that with mbappe in the ranks, a 523A would blow most teams away, but that clearly isnt so, with the C tactic still proving to be too stubborn to overcome.I was trying to avoid the unreliable E tactic, but its looking like the giant monkey may need to return. In this game, the first goal went against us, and they shut up shop with a D. I would still have expected 70 minutes of P/A to have produced more than the shot count that we got. But it is what it is. We won 2 important games against our opponents last season, so i guess they were bound to beat us at some point.
Next up is another tough game at a strong Fiorentina, where we could find ourselves 9 points behind the leaders after 10 games

EFL CUP ROUND 1
PSG 7 – 0 Dynamo Zagreb

A free hit against a much weaker team where we also managed to hit tactical advantage. A 50 shot haul got us a decent abs return with 7 goals spread randomly across the team. There wasn’t really any stand out performances but everyone did their job, with Costa facing 7 shots and keeping a clean sheet, clearly helped by the fact the visitors front line was only 17 rated. Decent training game for the second match of the season

EFL CUP ROUND 2
Atletico Madrid 2 - 4 PSG

We came with a game plan to keep it tight for an hour and them blow them away by bringing on the 2 x 22-21 AMs. Unfortunately, it all went wrong on 39 minutes when TAA was shown a red. On the hour, when the 2 AMs came on, they replaced a DF and DM and the plan was for TAA to drop back into a back 5. Obviously, this never happened and we were left wide open at the back, playing a 40023A for the last 30 minutes. How we won that final 30 minutes 3-1 against home advantage, tactical advantage, and an extra man, i do not know. Marshy can rightly feel hard done to.

Some interesting results elsewhere, with Real Madrid, and last years finalists, Juventus also exiting. Probably 3 strong teams left - Inter, Roma, and PSG. With our luck with the draws in this competition over the past 2 seasons, I expect an away draw at Inter lol.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP GAME 1
PSG 7 - 2 Newcastle

PSG were in seventh heaven, winning their 7th game from 8 in all competitions, scoring seven goals for the 3rd time this season. The visitors held their own in the opening exchanges, equalising twice inside the first 11 minutes. The game was uneventful for the next 20 minutes until the hosts changed gears in the 30th minute, adding another five without reply. The goal difference could prove to be useful in determining who tops the group.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP GAME 2
PSG 2 - 0 Chelsea

An odd game where both managers probably knew what tactic the other would play, but were happy to let the game play out and see what happened. Chelsea set very defensively with the 5 DF / 2 DM C tactic and both teams cancelled eachother out for the first hour. However, on 65 minutes the home team were able to up the tempo, bringing on a 22-21 rated AM and at the same time switching to attack mode. This paid immediate dividends, which prompted a change in tactics from the visitors. This opened the game up a little more, and the hosts were ablw to add a second and end the game comfortable winners.
GG Steve. Hopefully PSG will be through before the return leg.
With a double header against the weakest team in the competition still to come, it looks like qualification should be a formality, unless we get a 3 game injury to the GK in the first game. Although, looking at the tables, winning the group might not be ideal

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP GAME 3
Sporting Lisbon 1 – 4 PSG

After hitting seven against Newcastle in Round 2, the French club had to settle with 4 this time around. Nevertheless, it was a dominant performance, where the only blemish was to concede a goal on the stroke of half time. There were no stand out performers, with the goals being spread across 4 different players, with only Haaland finding the net out of the front 3. 3 wins from 3 sees us heading the the group after the first of a double header against probably the weakest team in the Champions League. Victory in the return leg will surely see us qualify with 2 games to spare.
Good game Jason

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP GAME 4
PSG 8 – 2 Sporting Lisbon

A clinical performance from the French giants, scoring 8 from only 27 shots, sees them outscore the seven achieved in Round 2 against Newcastle. The Georgian was the hero of the day, getting a hat-trick, outdoing the forwards. Ramos managed a brace, and the other two forwards, Mbappe and Haaland also got their names on the score sheet. It was disappointing to concede 2 goals from 13 shots faced, but you can probably expect to happen when everyone is trying to get some action at the other end of the pitch. Four victories from four, keeps us at the summit of the group, and qualification is assured with 2 games to spare. All that remains to be decided is who finishes as group winner and gets the more favourable quarter final draw. That will potentially be decided in gameweek 5 when the French club travel to 2^nd place Chelsea, where a draw will probably be sufficient considering the superior goal difference
Good game Jason

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP GAME 5
Chelsea 1 – 1 PSG

The home club only needed a draw to secure their place in the quarter finals, so expectedly set up not to lose. They had a very defensive 520212C setup against a very fluid PSG. Chelsea thought that they had got their noses in front on 23 minutes, but a foul on the goalkeeper resulted in the goal getting chalked off. However the away team failed to take heed of the warning, and found themselves trailing the game 5 minutes later when Firmino put the hosts in front. The visitors continued with the same approach and thought they had a penalty on 62, but VAR ruled against them. However, they finally got their reward in the final 10 minutes, and the game finished all square. Saliba was rested for the game and a squaddie got some valuable minutes, so the visitors left a little in the tank, but should now finish the group as winners with a 15 goal difference over the 2^nd place club.

Good game SteveT

[Ed@PSG]

ROUND 10
Fiorentina 2 – 2 PSG

The game went from bad to worse. We lost TAA to a red card just after the half hour mark, and our misery was compounded 9 minutes later when ex-PSG player and ex-Top gun, Luis_Diaz got the opening goal of the game. We got the chance to restructure our game plan during half time, and came back out ready to have another go. Unfortunately shortly after the restart we suffered another blow, losing Declan Rice to a second red card of the game. We had already taken off a defenfder before the first red card, so at this point we were playing 3-0-0-2-3. Somehow we managed to turn the game around with goals from EBH and Ramos. In hindsdight we ought to have tried to close out the game, but we continued our gung ho approach. It was only a matter of time before we conceded another, and we were finally pegged back in the 90^th minute. I have no doubt that the game would have been a walk in the park had we kept 11 players on the pitch, but suspensions have cost us 2 points here.

ROUND 11
PSG 0 – 0 Rangers

A game dominated by the defenders. Rangers came with a gameplan to keep it tight and defend and they will probably be happier with the result. Both keepers made 5 saves but the visitors were better in the tackle, with the hosts edging the chance count 21 – 14. Overall this was a very disappointing performance.

ROUND 12
Borussia Dortmund 0 – 3 PSG

A return to winning ways with a dominant performance. We rotated through the A P E tactics and got the breakthough in the 22^nd minute when Lacroix got the opener. Haaland added a second before the break, but Ramos put the tie beyond reach as soon as the players came out of the tunnel. Hakimi thought he had added a fourth, only to see it disallowed. Things could have took a turn for the worse when Costa was booked in the 68^th minute. Fortunately the infringement was outside the box, so there was no penalty, and the card was only yellow. Man of the match award went to defender Hakimi, for his 2 tackles, 5 passes, 1 assist and 3 shots, and a disallowed goal. With a shot count of 33-22 the victory was totally deserved

ROUND 13
PSG 2 -3 Real Madrid

The 2 juggernauts of EFL1 went head to head for the first time since the Champions League final, and the visitors had a point to prove. The Parisiens started with tactical advantage, but were dealt a sucker punch from the Spaniards first attack. Raheem Sterlings scored from the first corner of the game. The home team immediately subbed Mbappe on for Lacroix after just 3 minutes. Within 1 minute, Mbabbe had the ball in the back of the net, only for him to be judged offside. The hostscontinuedto probe, and finally got their reward on 26 minutes, with mbappe making no mistake this time. Unfortunately, parity only lasted ten minutes, before a deflected shot from Doku trickled past the PSG keeper. Matters went from bad to worse, when a second deflected shot slipped past Costa. To suffer one deflected goal in a game is rare, but to be end on thre end of two is extremely unlucky. The second half was uneventful until Ramos pulled one back to halve the deficit was 25 minutes to go. The hosts continued to push for an equaliser, but the Madrid defence held firm. Stats-wise the game was even, and a draw would have been a fair result, but unfortunately the points went away with the visitors.

ROUND 14
Sporting Lisbon 2 – 7 PSG

The fans witnessed a masterpiece from the PSG forward, Ramos, who managed a massive 11 shots, scoring another hatrick, and rightly earning the man of the match. The French team raced into a two goal lead inside 11 minutes before Lisbon immediately pulled one back on 12 minutes. The next half an hour belonged to the goalkeepers as thet managed to mop up everything that was thrown at them. Shortly before the break, Ramos got his second and PSG restored their two goal advantage. Immediately after the restart, mbappe added the fourth, before Ramos completed his trio just after the hour mark. The Georgian added a sixth with 5 minutes to go. Lisbon managed to grab a consolation inside injury time and immediately from the kickoff, Vitinha put the fans into seventh heaven, completing the rout. The French visitors managed a massive chance count of 59, which provided the home team with the opportunity to garner some impressive tackling abs. With 42 shots, of which 25 were on target, and 27 passes, this was one of the French clubs biggest abs hauls of the season so far.

ROUND 15
PSG 2 -2 AC Milan

Round 15 saw the visit of Cheyenne Hollis and his over performing AC Milan. Yet another C tactic from the French teams opponents. Haaland managed to get his name on the scoresheet first with a goal on the quarter hour mark. Unfortunately things then took a turn for the worse, with goals from Dybala and Romagnoli putting the Italians in front on the stroke of half time. It didn’t take too long after the restart for Haaland to get his second of the game, and put the tie level, with the brace earning the blonde giant a well deserved man of the match award. The French team continued to prod and probe, but were unable to add to their tally, and had to settle for a share of the spoils. With a chance count of 30-16 the home team were very unlucky not to win the game, but there appears to be a pattern developing whereby despite having one of the strongest defences in the league, the tackle percentage is extremely low for the Parisians, whilst opponents seem to regularly achieve or exceed the predicted 35-40%. Today was a poor day for Costs, conceded 2 goals from only 5 shots faceds.

[Ed@PSG]

ROUND 16
Atletico Madrid 2 – 2 PSG

The French giants have a very good record against Atletico so were confident going to the game. The Counter Attack was expected from the home team so the visitors set up for Tactical advantage. Eight minutes in, and 2 shots later PSG were 2 down. The game plan went out of the window as the visitors switched to all-out attack. They were quickly rewarded on 16 minutes when Ramos took on 3 players before coolly slotting the ball the home shotstopper. Four minutes later the Georgian got the equaliser and all of a sudden it was all to play for, in what was shaping up to be an exhilarating game. The Parisians continued to go forward in search of the winner, whilst the hosts seemed content to play out the game for a point. With 5 minutes of normal time left, they pulled everyone back behind the ball, and tried to close down the game. After an exciting first 20 minutes the game simply petered out, with both teams only managing 10 shots each throughout the entirety of the game.

ROUND 17
PSG 5 – 0 Feyenoord

Vitinha and Bastoni were rested for this game, with the hosts opting for a four man defence against the EFL strugglers. As expected the visitors played quite a defensive lineup with a sole attacker, presumably hoping to frustrate the Parisians. The plan seemed to be working, but unfortunately, Timber saw red on 21 minutes, and the hosts finally wrestled control of the game, when Ramos fired the ball home from the resulting free kick. The home team were unable to add to their tally before the half time break. On 58 minutes, Ramos bravely threw his head at the ball and got his 20^th of the season, to double the lead. Immediately from the restart, Hakimi added a third, before Vitinha entered the fray. Just after the hour mark thongs went from bad to worse, when Niakhate got his marching orders for a second yellow. As the game edged towards it conclusion, Vitinha got the fourth, questionning the managers decision to start him on the bench. He then followed up with his brace and a nap hand for the hosts. Ramos got the man of the match for his 8 shots and 2 goals, although he was ran very close by attacking midfielder, Vitinha, who also scored two in his cameo appearance.

ROUND 18
Bayern Munich 0 – 2 PSG

For a pleasant change, the Parisians didn’t face the usual 5 man defence C tactic, with the germans opting for a passing approach. Unfortunately the visitors messed up their substitutions, bringing on Lacroix, and playing him as a forward, rather than Mbappe. The mistake may have proved to be costly, with the teams going into the break level. The visitors finally got the breakthrough on 54 minutes when Haaland scored from a spectacular free kick. Vitniha put the tie beyond reach with fifteen to go, scoring his third goal in 2 games. The French team were worthy of the victory, bossing the shot count 18-12. After just missing out from the man of the match award in the previous game, Vitinha made no mistake this time.

ROUND 19
PSG 3 – 1 Roma

The season reached the half way point. PSG hosted the once mighty AS Roma, who were no longer the threat they once were. Roma cam with their usual Passing approach. Roma started the game very lively, prompting a yellow card for Mbappe as early as the first minute. However, it wasn’t long before the Parisians took over, with the next eight attacks, one of which was converted by Ramos from a pinpoint cross for a rejuvenated Vitinha. Mbappe managed to add a second just before the break. The dominance continued after the restart, with Mbappe getting his 2^nd, and appearing to put the tie out of reach. However, Mbappe pushed his took too far, trying to fool the officials with an obvious dive, resulting in a red card, courtesy of a second yellow. Rather than sit back and attempt to close down the game, the home team felt attack was the best form of defence and went onto the front foot. The plan seemed to work, but the French rearguard was finally breached, well into injury time, when a defleted shot trickled past an already committed Costa. Ramos ending up with the man of the match award, which would no doubt have been awarded to Mbappe had it not been for his attempt to con the referee.

ROUND 20
Bayer Leverkusen 0 – 3 PSG

Leverkusen had been on the end of some large beatings this season, and this was probably a factor in their decision to play an extremely defensive game. However, this strategy came unstuck when Haaland opened the scoring with a cheeky lob on 11 minutes. The hosts opened up with a tactical change,making for a more open game. Haaland got his second on 27 minutes, and the Parisians looked to be cruising, heading for the break. Unfortunately, the referee had other ideas, giving Ramos a second yellow shortly before the break. The second half ebbed and flowed, without much really happening. Shortly before the final whistle, Vitniha added a third. At this point, the hosts had suffered enough, and pulled everyone behind the ball and killed off the game.

ROUND 21
PSG 1 – 1 Celtic

The Scotsmen tried something different to previous teams, opting to play route one football. They managed to frustrate the hosts, forcing them to rotate through various tactics, until the Frenchmen got the breakthough from an unlikely source, defender, Saliba. The visitors changed things around, although didn’t really look like scoring. Unfortunately, Costa had a rush of blood to the head, and conceded a penalty, which was converted by Ben Cheddar. The Parisians went in search of a winner, but desite dominating the stats, it proved fruitless, and the game ended all square.

[Ed@PSG]

ROUND 22
Napoli 1 – 3 PSG

The hosts set up defensively, but the attacking approach of the visitors brought instant rewards when Haaland fired them ahead with the first attack of the game on 3 minutes. On the quarter hour mark the Parisians changed things around a little, gaining tactical advantage with the European tactic. In hindsight, this was potentially a foolish move as the home team managed to grab an equaliser against tactical advantage. However, upon the restart, the Frenchmen immediately restored their advantage, courtesy of a stunning strike from the Georgian. On the half hour mark the visitors completed their “large monkey” tactics and saw out the game to the break. Just before the hour mark, Mbappe made it 3, and gave his team a two goal cushion. There was little further action and the Parisians finished the game as victors, with a 3 – 1 scoreline. The away team were well worth the three points, dominating the stats, and Mbappe just edged the Man of the Match award, despite having similar stats to Haaland

ROUND 23
PSG 1 – 2 Inter Milan

After suffering their first taste of defeat at the hands of Inter Milan earlier in the season, the hosts were keen to exact their revenge today. The Parisians got the early tactical advantage, and bossed the early exchanges, but were unable to convert the chances to goals. It was actually the visitors who drew first blood on the quarter game mark, courtesy of a shot in off the post. The home team continued to press and probe until their goalkeeper foolishly conceded a penalty on 57 minutes. Luckily Costa was able to remain on the pitch, but he was unable to stop the penalty, and the Italians took a 2 goal lead. On 68 minutes the Frenchmen were finally able to convert one of their chances, courtesy of Vitinha, and it was “game on”. Unfortunately the Italian rearguard was resolute, and they were able to see the game out, and claim a double against the Parisians. With almost twice as many shots, and a better strikeforce, this one was a hard pill to swallow. To concede two goals from 6 shots faced is very disappointing, and I hope it isn’t a forewarning of what is to come. We will play Inter Milan in the EFL Cup final, and the Italians will certainly go into that game extremely confident, after having done a league double over us.

ROUND 24
Lazio 1 – 2 PSG

Expecting the usual Counter attack that they seem to face most games, the visitors opted for tactical advantage with an often unreliable E tactic. After an uneventful first quarter hour, the Frenchmen continued to rotate their APE variant. The hosts took the lead on 24 minutes, courtesy of Harvey Elliot. Surprisingly the Italians then went into attack mode, buoyed on by their breakthough. Unfortunately their lead lasted a mere 6 minutes before the Georgian restored parity. The teams went into the dressing room level at the break. The Parisians continued to switch through their tactics in search of a winner, and were finally rewarded on 73, when Ramos got his name on the scoresheet. This proved to be the winner, with the visitors winning the game two goals to one. Looking at the stats, PSG were worthy winners with an 18-8 shot count, and the Georgian took home the man of the match champagne.

ROUND 25
PSG 6 – 2 Barcelona

There was some uncertainly about who selected the team for this game. The manager, Sam Bradwell, claimed it was a random sheet, but the FFO hierarchy confirmed that a teamsheet was in fact submitted. Presumably the Spanish manager wanted to dis-associate himself from such a feeble performance. The visitors looked like they were opting for the direct approach playing hoofball. It didn’t take long for the hosts to take the lead. Mbappe got his twentieth of the season on 6 minutes with a scorcher. The fans didn’t have to wait too long for their team to double their lead, courtesy of Haaland, just a minute later. The game seemed to quieten down a little at this point, with the fans having to wait a full half hour for the third goal, a cheeky lob from Vitinha. By this point, the Parisians were started to take things for granted, and a brief lapse in concentration let in veteran, Lewandowski, who managed to give the visitors a glimmer of hope before the break. The teams came back out after the break, and the Frenchmen continued to probe and just after the hour mark, Mbappe got his 2^nd of the game to restore the three goal advantage. Not to be outdone, shortly afterwards, Haaland also got his second of the game, and 25^th of the season, when his ferocious shot slipped through the hands of the Spanish shotstopper. The visitors managed to grab a consolation just before full time when Ake managed to lob the home keeper. However, that wasn’t the end to the action, when Ramos made it super six in injury time. It was a close call between Mbappe and Haaland for the man of the match award, with both players scoring a brace. However, the accolade ultimately went to the French man courtesy of his 10 shots. This will be a game that Sam Bradwell will wish to forget – not many teams will manage a 10-3 aggregate scoreline over the 2 league games. This game was a complete domination from the home team, with a 31-9 shot count. The only worrying aspect was the fact that the keeper continues to be inconsistent conceding 2 goals from 5 shots faced. If the goals dry up, the French team will experience issues if they cannot sort out their shots:goals conceded ratio.

October word count so far 964

[Ed@PSG]

ROUND 26
Sevilla 1 – 1 PSG

Sevilla are so predictable with their tactics – start L and switch to C when 1 down. Rather than start with the obvious passing tactics, the Parisians continued their attacking style. They didn’t have to wait long for some action, with TAA lobbing the Sevilla keeper on 7 minutes. Unfortunately it was disallowed for a dubious handball, seen by no one else other than the referee. Undeterrred by this, the visitors continued their onslaught, and 6 minutes later they finally got another breakthrough, when Haaland launched a scorcher. It was too hot to handle for the hosts goalkeeper, and he dropped the ball into his own net. Inexplicably, the referee continued to show his allegiance to the home team by disallowing a second valid goal. It was clear that this was going to be a very questionable performance from the man in black, and the Parisians were going to be extremely lucky if they were to take anything at all from this game. It was becoming clear how the Sevilla team were managing to defy all the pundits with their CL placings. The visitors had the ball in the back of the net for a third time on 26 minutes, and this time the man in the middle was unable to find any reason to disallow the goal, and had to let it stand. As expected, the hosts then changed things around and started to play a counter attack, so the French team also changed accordingly to maintain tactical advantage. The officials continued to favour the home team, giving dubious corners and freekicks, whilst the visitors carried on their attack, hitting the woodwork twice shortly before the break. However, shortly after the break, the officials finally got what they were perhaps being paid to do, and the referee had no hesitation awarding a goal as the ball hit the post and came back out. The black cheetah (sic) claimed the ball somehow went over the line. It was clear to the Parisians they were not going to win this game, so they concentrated on not conceding further, and the game got extremely scrappy with foul after foul and card and after card. PSG completely bossed the stats and can feel extremely hard doe to, to only get one goal from 22 shots (or should that be 3 goals from 22 shots).

ROUND 27
PSG 9 – 2 Monaco

After the debacle away at Sevilla, the french were keen to get back to winning ways with a home tie against the French team that is not really French aka the imposters. As appears to be the norm this season, the imposters set up to counter and catch the hosts on the break. The home team continued their attacking style despite coming unstuck in recent games. Many fans missed the first goal as they were still filtering into the stadium. The kickoff was passed back to the Monegasque keeper, who clearly wasn’t expecting it. Reminiscent of John Hendries goal against Peter Schmeichel, the keeper sliced the ball into the path of a hopeful Lacroix, who made no mistake in the first minute. The pressure from the hosts was relentless, with Ramos getting his 25^th of the season on 7 minutes. The Monegasque manager then changed things around, thinking he could go toe to toe with the French juggernauts. After being allowed to venture up into the AM position, versatile defender TAA got the teams third on 12. After seeing TAA get his reward for moving up the pitch, fellow defender, Hakimi wanted a go, so crept into a defensive mid position. Unfortunately he left a gaping hole, and the Monacans were able to take advantage, getting a foothold back in the game on the quarter hour mark. Four goals and we were only a quarter hour into the game. Hakimi was rightly ordered to retake his position in the back line. Mbappe managed to restore the 3 goal lead on 22 minutes, and again Hakimi snuck into the midfield. And again, the team was punished, with the visitors pulling back a second shortly before the break. On 52 minutes, Lacroix got his second of the game, and again Hakimi ignored his manager, and repositioned himself in front of the back line. We had to wait another quarter hour for the next goal, with Mbappe getting his second of the game. Sensing the game was in the bag, Hakimi continued to press forward at every opportunity and he finally got his reward on 67 minutes. The crowd went wild and the team was in seventh heaven. Hakimi was having the game of his life, and it wasn’t about to stop. After a scary few minutes during a VAR check, he was awarded his second goal of the game, and the first brace of his career. Vitinha completed the rout with the last action of the game, to make it nine. Yes, nine. Mbappe was awarded the man of the match by the sponsors for his 2 goals, 9 shots, and 6 passes, but everyone left the ground knowing that the real hero of the hour was Hakimi.

ROUND 28
Juventus 1 - 0

Round 28 saw the Parisians visit the current league leaders, Juventus. Still on cloud nine, after their 9-2 mauling of the Imposters, the visitors elected to continue their attacking style. The manager had already accepted that they were no longer in the title race and was just happy to please the home fans to some entertaining football, after having to witness the meanest defence in EFL 1 playing their boring but effective style. The game took some time to get going with very little happening in the first half hour. However, the breakthrough came on the half hour mark, when ex-parisian ESR got the opening goal. Just like they did in the game in France, the Italians pulled everyone back behind the ball and battened down the hatches. Shortly after the break, the Georgian came on in place of Declan Rice, and the visitors formed two banks of five as they searched for an equaliser. It was wave after wave of attack, but the Juventus keeper had a blinder, saving everything that was thrown at him. The home team managed to see out the victory, and achieve a rare double over their opponents. The stats suggest a dominant performance from the visitors, but the hosts won the stat that really matters. As expected, the Juventus goalkeeper was awarded man of the match, and the Italians remained top of the table.

October wordcount 2054. job done