In the midst of a defensive injury crisis and in the wake of an impressive midweek performance in the Basque country, Luis Enrique understandably rotated his team for Sunday’s midweek reception of Reims. With Brest having slipped up in Lens the previous evening, the pressure on the hosts was minimal, although a return to winning ways in the league after consecutive draws would not have gone amiss.
Within minutes, of kick-off, PSG were made to pay for a lack of focus. Oumar Diakité pressured Achraf Hakimi off the ball on the edge of the box, before the Ivorian squared it to Marshall Munetsi for an open-goal finish to put the visitors ahead.
The ensuing PSG attacks would all go through Gonçalo Ramos, his initial chances being denied by Diouf and Abdelhamid respectively. It wouldn’t take long for the Portuguese striker to put the hosts ahead, though. Having forced an Abdelhamid own goal from a corner, Ramos then took advantage of confusion in the Reims defence minutes later to dispatch a loose ball in the box.
The Champagne outfit would continue to threaten as the half progressed, though – a last-ditch Danilo Pereira sliding tackle on Diakité notably making up for his giveaway after a heavy touch. Will Still’s men eventually found their way through again, as Agabdou sliced open the PSG defence to play Diakité through on goal, and the Ivorian slotted past Navas and into the far corner.
Although dominant for most of the second half, the hosts’ opportunities to go back ahead were few and far between. Another block from Abdelhamid would parry Carlos Soler’s close-range effort on the hour mark, after Barcola saw a few chances of his own go wide. Luis Enrique would ring in the changes with 20 minutes to go, with Kylian Mbappé (the
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