Good Evening
Welcome to Overtime’s live blog of PSG’s trip to Bordeaux as the leaders look to build on their eight point lead at the top of Ligue 1 against tonight’s hosts currently sat in 16th. I’m your reporter Nick Whiteman and I will keep you informed of all the build-up, including the important team news as well as the game itself, due to kick off at 20:00.
A lot of the talk around PSG at the moment is centred around whether Mauricio Pochettino’s great squad look like a great team and the impact of Lionel Messi. It seems as if the doubts on both fronts are coming from opposite competitions, with Poch’s men claiming 31 points from possible 36 in Ligue 1 compared to their return of 8 out of possible 12 in the Champions League so far. This tally meaning that a defeat in the next match against last years runners up Manchester City, could leave them going into a final game decider against Club Brugge.
In contrast, Messi, albeit limited to substitute appearances and being plagued by injuries, has yet to find his feet in Ligue 1 with no goals so far. He has netted three in three in the Champions League including a vintage curling effort against City and two goals against RB Leipzig to complete a comeback, including a Panenka penalty for the winning goal. Not bad for someone allegedly struggling to adapt.
One of PSG’s standout players this season has been former Villa and Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye. The Senegalese international, often deployed as a destroyer, has been thriving in his new role under Pochettino as a box-to-box midfielder. He has four goals in eleven appearances, including the important opening goal in their game against City. More goals than in his previous two seasons.
For Bordeaux (placed in 16th) it seems a question of staying in the division for this season certainly. They will look to build on their most recent result against 17th placed Reims, a thrilling late comeback from two goals down to snatch victory at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux.
Veteran striker Jimmy Briand (on his 500th appearance in top flight European football) came off the bench to score two goals, including a 90+5 minute penalty to gain a much needed win following five draws in the previous six. They may find optimism in the fact that both times PSG have dropped points, it has came away from home. A 2-0 defeat at Rennes and a 0-0 in Marseille.
Hopefully not speaking too soon but we should expect to see goals in this one with PSG being the leagues top scorers with 26 and Bordeaux conceding the third most goals in the league (24). It seems that Les Girondins’s best bet would be to target the wide areas as PSG’s full backs are prone to being caught on the counter high up the field and there are question marks over their ability to stop crosses. Angelino certainly seemed to expose this in both games for Leipzig.
Team news incoming…
Teams on the way out now. A lively atmosphere from the home fans.
KICK OFF
The home side in all dark blue. The away side in all white.
1 min-Albert Elis straightaway pressuring Juan Bernat and he wins a throw in deep in the PSG half but the resulting cross comes too nothing.
2 min-GOOD CHANCE PSG win a corner which they take short. Neymar whips a delicious ball in but Georginio Wijnaldum, looking to add to his midweek double heads over.
4 mins-First sighter for Bordeaux as they catch PSG on the break but Timothee Pembele slightly under hits the pass to Elia and he cant get a clean effort away. Resulting corner is clear but you can see where PSG can be got at.
8 mins-PSG looking a little rattled and have been caught in possesion a number of times. This time Javairo Dilrosun in search of his second league goal of the season has his effort deflected out for a corner. Home side on top.
9 mins-Bordeaux come forward again and Thilo Kehrer brings down Elis and its a free kick in a good position for Bordeaux. Surely they’ll fancy an effort at goal.
PSG opting to use the draft excluded to defend this. Free kick is deflected out for a corner which is cleared at the near post.
11 mins- Another freekick this time Ander Herrera fouling Yacine Adli. Great start from the home team.
Referee calls it back to be taken again. A little too eager from Adli.
14 mins-A good spell of possession for the visitors as they look to assert themselves on this game and for a second it looked like Kylian Mbappe was in following a chipped through ball from Marquinhos. Thankfully for Bordeaux the flag has gone up. Signs the away team are waking up a little.
16 mins-GOOD CHANCE Again the home team pinch the ball deep in PSG’s half, this time off Neymar, but the visitors and Keylor Navas in particular manage to scramble it clear. They’re up for this Bordeaux.
20 mins-PSG back four freeze as they believe Elis is offside. He gets his shot off before the delayed flag finally goes up. Home side enjoying the opening exchanges.
23 mins-Halfway through this first half and it’s hard to tell who’s currently top and who’s 16th. PSG look like they’re in but flag goes up against Mbappe again.
25 mins-GOAL Arguably against the run of play but the two magicians Neymar and Mbappe link up for this one. Mbappe finds space wide right and picks out his Brazilian counter part with an exquisite chipped pass. Neymar brings it down, cuts inside and fire it into the near post. The home side shouldn’t feel too discouraged, they’ve been in this.
28 mins-BOOKING Pembele goes down on the wide edge of the PSG box as the ball runs out and without any surprise on his face he gets booked for simulation. Poor effort.
30 mins-Chance Opportunity for two there as Bernat gets down the left but his pull back is a little overhit and Bordeaux clear.
33 mins-Mbappe calls for a drag back as he looks in on goal but the ref waves it away. Looked like he may have point, Stian Gregersen probably feels a little relieved.
36 mins-CHANCE Great chance for two there as Neymar breaks into the box and slightly overruns it before flicking the ball to Mbappe but from a tight angle his shot is blocked. It rebounds out to him and he passes it across to Bernat who’s shot is also blocked but the linesman had already flagged for a corner.
41 mins-Bordeaux back on tops and force a corner. It’s cleared to Pembele and his effort from this edge of the area flies out for a goal kick. They can be encouraged by this first half performance as they’ve limited PSG to a few chances which given their talent isn’t bad at all.
43 mins-GOAL Wow what can you say about that. Its that bromance again to make it 2-0 and a second for Neymar. He plays an intricate pass into Mbappe who returns it with a wonderful back heel and the Brazilian just slides it effortlessly into the corner of the goal.
It’s gone to VAR…..It looked good to me.
Goal confirmed it is two. Not sure why it took so long.
45 mins-Good Save Navas is forced into a good save by Pembele and some unpleasant scenes as Dilrosun goes to take the corner and a bottle from the PSG fans is launched at him. Eventually the corner is taken and it is cleared.
HALF TIME
Message of support on Neymar’s shirt..
At halftime it’s 2-0 to the visitors as Neymar scores two good goals with the second in particular being pleasant on the eye. It doesn’t tell the story of the first half though as the home side have rattled PSG at times but the final product has been left wanting. If there’s one area in particular they have been disappointing it has been there corners. They’ve had a few but they’ve not troubled PSG.
PSG do look a little vulnerable in transitions at points and you cant help but feel better sides will punish them if they give the ball away in some of the areas they have tonight. It seems a little too individual at points in that half.
Sides are coming out for the second half. No changes for PSG.
Bordeaux make a change as Pembele is off and Gideon Mensah comes on.
SECOND HALF
47 mins-Straightaway PSG find themselves in but the ball to Neymar is too wide and Bordeaux clear it.
47 mins-Good Chance It’s that duo again. Mbappe is slipped down the left by Neymar, he cuts inside but is denied by a wonderful block by the former Arsenal man Laurent Koscielny. His curling effort looked destined for the far corner. Great stuff by the veteran defender.
52 mins-Neymar now trying to slip in Julian Draxler but again Koscielny reads the pass well. He’s always been good at reading the game the french centre-half.
53 mins-Good Save Bordeaux look to get that all important next goal and it Adli that tries it on his own. He travels down the left and cuts inside onto the right but his curling effort his pushed out relatively comfortably by Navas. The resulting corner frustratingly again comes to nothing.
55 mins- Almost Neymar travels down the left side of Bordeaux’s area, he comes inside then back on the outside and tries to squeeze in his third but his effort goes out for corner.
VAR check for a potential penalty on Mbappe…play goes on for now.
57 mins-What a Chance Elis is picked out by a wonderful cross from Jean Onana but he cant squeeze it home. He looks like he may have been offside but you can see why Bordeaux’s forwards are struggling for goals. Elis so far on four goals.
59 mins-Neymar again with some wonderful footwork out wide and he picks out, you guessed it Mbappe but the frenchman couldnt sort his feet and Bordeaux manage to clear. Onana then shows some wondeful footwork for the hosts in a dangerous area before PSG pinch it back. A few moments after Achraf Hakimi is bought down but the resulting free kick comes too nothing. We haven’t seen much of the talented Moroccan full back which is surprising given his ability.
Looks like Bernat is coming off after receiving a knock. Nuno Mendes coming on.
61 mins-GOAL Its 3-0 and again it’s some precision passing from the league leaders as Wijnaldum is put through on goal before unselfishly squaring to Mbappe to tap into an empty net. It’s good play but you have to question the huge gap left by Bordeaux for Wijnaldum to run into.
That was the frenchmans sixth in Ligue 1 this season.
65 mins-Close Its looking like the floodgates may open as Mbappe comes close again but his shot from a difficult angle goes narrowly wide.
71 mins-What a Miss M’Baye Niang has his blushes spared as the flag goes up. It was some good play by Bordeaux as they work a nice triangle inside the PSG area before the former Milan man is presented with an opportunity on a plate but he somehow slides it wide from the edge of the six yard box.
74 mins-Booking Mbappe brings down Elis as he looks to breakaway and the frenchman goes into the book. It did for a minute look like Elis kicked out but it appeared far worse at first than it actually was.
PSG substitution incoming..
In case you were wondering its Draxler and Eric Ebimbe coming off for Idrissa Gueye and Danilo Pereira
Bordeaux preparing a substitution of their own as last weeks hero Jimmy Briand prepares to come on. Would take some miracle work from him to rescues this one.
77 mins-Goal Hello its 3-1. Danilo Perreira gives the ball away as PSG try to play out from the back. Adli is presented with the ball wide left of the box and with the outside of his foot puts it on a plate for the home sides bright spark Elis. This following a great cross from Elis but Niang’s header was comfortably saved from Navas.
81 mins- Good Save And almost an instant impact from Jimmy Briand as his volley is saved well by Keylor Navas. Theres suddenly believe from nowhere for the home side. They surely cant do it can they?
On second viewing it appears had Briand’s shot gone in it would’ve been ruled as the ball looked like it had gone out.
84 mins-PSG need to slow this down a bit as Elis scraps for and wins a ball by the corner flag but there’s no one in the box for his cross. He’s played really well this half the Honduran.
Corner Bordeaux….In the meantime Onana is replaced by Fransergio for the home team. Mbappe is also coming off for the away side as Mauro Icardi comes on.
87 mins-Booking Niang screams handball and looks for a penalty but is instead booked for his efforts. It would’ve been very soft. They’ve got PSG penned in at the moment.
90 mins-3 minutes added on
Lots of niggly fouls from PSG as they look to disrupt the game and see it out.
PSG look on course to go ten points clear at the top.
90+2 mins-Goal I may have spoken too soon. Neymar looks to make it 4-1 but he’s denied by a great last ditch tackle from Gregersen, they go up the other ends and a neat give and go between Briand and Niang sees Niang slide a second in for the home side. Great goal but surely too little too late.
Full time-Neymar in a deep discussion with Pochettino but the full time whistle has now gone.
Thoroughly entertaining game with some good goals. At one point in the second half it looked as though PSG were gonna run riot but you have to give the home side credit as they managed to claw the way back into and setup a nervy last minute or so for PSG.
Ultimately though it was too little too late. For PSG they go 10 points clear whereas Bordeaux stay in 16th on 12 points having played one more than Reims on 11 points in 17th and Brest on nine in 18th. They could find themselves in the relegation zone following this round of fixtures.
Job done in the end for PSG. All that is left for me to do is thank you for following my live blog. Any feedback is appreciated.
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