PLAYER RATINGS | PSG 3-3 Strasbourg: Les Parisiens come back from two goals down to rescue point | OneFootball

A depleted Paris Saint-Germain came back from two goals down to draw with Strasbourg in Friday’s matchday opener, retaining top spot for the time being ahead of Marseille’s game against Le Havre.

The match

Luis Enrique was still contending with the absence of a significant chunk of his first-choice eleven due to injury as Champions League contenders Strasbourg came to the capital for the matchday opener. The league leaders did see Désiré Doué return from injury, though, and the 20-year-old made an instant impact for his first PSG appearance since August.

Breaking through down the left wing, Bradley Barcola was able to find Doué as support, playing a one-two with his compatriot before finishing past Penders to open the scoring after five minutes. Clear-cut chances for the hosts were few and far between afterwards, though, and Strasbourg managed to draw level on the break before the half-hour mark.

With his brother having assisted the opener, Guéla Doué responded in kind by swinging in a cross for Joaquín Panichelli to head past Chevalier. The Argentine, who joined the Alsatians this summer from Spain, already had his sixth Ligue 1 goal on the board. Liam Rosenior’s men pulled ahead just before half-time, as Valentín Barco scooped the ball over Hernández and into the box for Diego Moreira to sweep past Chevalier with a first-time finish from a tight angle.

The start of the second half followed a similar pattern. Strasbourg had doubled their lead within minutes after the restart, with Moreira this time providing the assist for Panichelli to beat Chevalier one-on-one after some impressive hold-up play. PSG responded just before the hour mark, with Gonçalo Ramos converting a penalty drawn by Doué for his first Ligue 1 goal of the season. It would be the Portuguese forward’s first and only real contribution to proceedings.

As the Alsatians’ energy levels began to drop, the hosts pushed on. It was Senny Mayulu, starting the match in an unfamiliar right-back role, who found the equaliser ten minutes from time, beating Penders at the second time of asking after the Belgian had parried his initial shot.

With Panichelli kept quiet in the final half-hour by Willian Pacho (who had come on for the struggling Lucas Beraldo), Strasbourg were left without an outlet to strike back and settled for a draw. Liam Rosenior’s men nevertheless cemented their credentials as Champions League-chasers (at the very least), moving up to a provisional second place ahead of the rest of the weekend’s matches.

With just one win in four league matches, Paris Saint-Germain’s grip on Ligue 1 does seem to be loosening this autumn, even if much of that has to do with the injury-induced absences. Having dropped points to both of their likely title challengers in Marseille and Strasbourg, the domestic title may not be as much of a formality anymore for Les Parisiens.

PSG player ratings

Lucas Chevalier, 4

Senny Mayulu, 6

Ilya Zabarnyi, 5

Lucas Beraldo, 3

Lucas Hernández, 3

Warren Zaïre-Emery, 6

Kang-in Lee, 4

Désiré Doué, 7 – Made an instant impact on his return to the team after a month and a half away, assisting Barcola’s opener and drawing the penalty for Ramos to halve the deficit in the second half. Somewhat misfiring outside of those two contributions, but more than pulling his weight in PSG’s attack and midfield.

Ibrahim Mbaye, 5

Gonçalo Ramos, 4 – As is often the case when he starts, the Portuguese forward scarcely made an impact on the match. He converted a penalty on the hour mark with aplomb, but promptly fell quiet again afterwards.

Bradley Barcola, 6

Selected Strasbourg player ratings

Guéla Doué, 6

Valentín Barco, 7

Diego Moreira, 7

Julio Enciso, 5

Joaquín Panichelli, 8

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin – reporting from the Parc des Princes