With their third away game in a row without a win, Paris St. Germain have lost the top spot in the Ligue 1 to Monaco. Although the champions improved in Nice, they also needed almost half an hour to get going.
At Nice, coach Franck Haise made four changes after the 4-1 defeat at Lazio in the Europa League: Ndombelé, Abdi, Cho and Guessand started in place of Rosario, Louchet, Bouanani and Moukoko.
On the opposite side, Dembelé was back in the PSG squad after being demoted for disciplinary reasons – and directly in the starting eleven. In addition, PSG coach Luis Enrique also ordered Fabian and Kolo Muani into the starting lineup. Vitinha, Lee and Doué had been allowed to start the 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in the Champions League, but this time they had to watch from the bench.
Those expecting the capital’s league leaders to flex their muscles were initially disappointed. For about 25 minutes, it was effectively almost only one way – into Donnarumma’s goal.
Ndayishimiye clears just before the line
The industrious wall striker Guessand picked up an early and bad pass from Dembelé, strode forward with long strides and passed the ball sharply inwards. Two minutes later, he tried again to set up a goal from the same position – but on one occasion the receiver was completely missing, on the other he and Cho both slid past the ball (4th, 6th).
It was remarkable how strongly OGC tackled this. Cho forced Donnarumma to make a great save after a Clauss cross (13th), even though the scene was wrongly whistled. It was not until a quarter of an hour later that PSG had their first chance, through Barcola, who passed the ball to Bulka on a counterattack. However, Ndayishimiye cleared the ball off the goal line just before (28′).
When Nuno Mendes followed up with a huge volley (Bulka made a brilliant save, 36′), the game gradually tipped in the favor of the favorites. But just at that moment, the southerners struck: After a corner, Abdi took a shot from the second row, his shot was deflected by Nuno Mendes, leaving Donnarumma powerless (39′).
Moukoko comes on for the final quarter of an hour
With Lee instead of Kolo Muani, PSG came out of the dressing room and immediately went on the attack. Nuno Mendes scored the equalizer with his weaker right, again from a corner, again deflected (52′). They almost managed the double strike: Barcola (53′) failed against Bulka, Marquinhos against the post (54′).
After a fast start to the second half, Nice gradually regained their composure defensively, allowing the game to take a short breather. Moukoko did get a brief appearance in the 77th minute, but the OGC defenders were long since more challenged than the attackers.
But the star-studded Parisian team was no longer able to get through to the final line: Nice had to pay tribute to the high pace of the first half, but fought relentlessly and finally rewarded themselves with the point.
