PLAYER RATINGS | Lens 1-2 PSG: Bradley Barcola inspires disjointed Les Parisiens to victory | OneFootball

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 Match

Opening proceedings were rather dominant from the visitors in possession but didn’t yield many opportunities in front of goal. The Lens backline looked untroubled defensively as they hoped to catch the Ligue 1 champions out 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 escaped in behind and finished from a tight angle, only for his celebrations to be halted by the offside flag. Soon after, PSG were level. Malang Sarr failed to deal with a ball in behind and Barcola picked his pocket to square it to Fabián Ruiz for a simple finish beyond Koffi.

After creating the first goal, Barcola won the match for PSG by scoring the second. The former Lyon was played into space by João Neves and drifted inside before rifling his shot with power beyond Koffi, who was hopeless to stop the France international’s effort.

Lens Player Ratings

Hervé Koffi – 5

Przemysław Frankowski – 5

Jonathan Gradit – 6

On the rare occasions when PSG clicked in attack, the defender proved to be a vital covering 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

Adrien Thomasson – 5

Florian Sotoca – 5

M’Bala Nzola – 7

A constant threat in the penalty area, PSG could not contain the Angolan international at times. With great positioning and poise, the forward had several opportunities. He took his goal brilliantly with an excellent touch and finish.

Goduine Koyalipou – 5

PSG Player Ratings

Gianluigi Donnarumma – 4

When called upon, the Italian international stopper failed to deliver. Twice beaten from tight angles, with the second overturned by the offside flag, Donnarumma looked vulnerable between the sticks and provided further doubt over his long-term future as PSG’s number one.

Lucas Beraldo – 5

Willian Pacho – 4

Lucas Hernandez – 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 France international proved to be the difference-maker for his side once again. 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 provided Les Parisiens with their second.

GFFN | Liam Wraith