Mory Diaw’s PSG display calms debate and steadies Le Havre’s survival bid | OneFootball

Mory Diaw delivered a standout display despite Le Havre’s 1-0 loss to European champions PSG on 28 February, making seven saves that eased doubts around the goal and steadied their survival bid.

Beaten by Bradley Barcola, and aided at times by Yanis Zouaoui and the post, the 32-year-old then excelled, denying Nuno Mendes on 66 minutes and Ibrahim Mbaye on 78, before saving Désiré Doué’s penalty on 79. According to L'Équipe, it felt like his first true benchmark for Le Havre after questions during his AFCON absence, when Lionel Mpasi impressed.

PSG produced 3.82 expected goals, yet Le Havre were beaten only by the narrowest margin and stayed alive to the end, helped by the Senegal international’s anticipation outside his box.

Since joining from Rodez in the summer he had lacked that reference match. In the 3-1 win over Nice on 31 August, a quick restart set up Issa Soumaré, but he was not exemplary on Peprah Oppong’s equaliser. At Nantes, a 0-2 loss, he over-anticipated a Fabien Centonze cross that Zouaoui turned into his own net, and an underhit central pass came before Lucas Gourna-Douath conceded a penalty. Didier Digard defended him and said a strong showing cools debate.

During Diaw’s AFCON absence and Senegal’s celebrations, Mpasi posted an 88.2 percent save rate, best among keepers with at least three games, compared with Diaw’s 66.3 percent, 15th before this round. He also shone against Toulouse, a 2-1 win on 15 February, after coming on at half-time.

Even so, Digard favours stability and has backed his number one. Diaw said criticism is part of football and underlined his commitment. A clean sheet at Brest would be his sixth this season, his first since 7 December.

Source: L'Équipe