PLAYER RATINGS | Rennes 1 – 3 PSG: Clinical Parisiens fight back
Four days after their 4-1 Champions League humbling at the hands of Newcastle United, Paris Saint-Germain traveled to Brittany to face their bogey team, Stade Rennais. PSG head coach Luis Enrique reverted to a more balanced 3-man midfield with Vitinha returning to the fray, notably to the expense of France international striker Randal Kolo Muani. The game lived up to the hype with the hosts going toe-to-toe with the Ligue 1 champions. Arnaud Kalimuendo got the first shot on target of the night, his powerful effort palmed away by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Les Rouge et Noir were oozing way more confidence in their game plan than Luis Enrique’s team. Stade Rennais were so coordinated in their pressing as well as in their positioning that it looked like PSG would need a spark of individual brilliance to break the deadlock. Such an occasion arrived when Ousmane Dembélé rolled back the years, zooming through the Roazhon Park pitch before finding Vitinha at the right edge of Rennes’ penalty box. The Portuguese stepped over and lashed a stunning curling effort in Steve Mandanda’s top-left corner.
Rennes took a blow and Les Parisiens doubled the lead minutes later. Promising 17-year-old midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery chipped an inch-perfect cross for the unmarked Achraf Hakimi to head home from close range as Rennes left-back Jeanuël Belocian made a mess of the offside trap. The Moroccan looked to have handled the ball in the build-up though. A clinical PSG entered the break with a two-goal lead.
Les Parisiens were in cruise control and should have made it three when Gonçalo Ramos failed to convert a counter-attack engineered by a trademark Kylian Mbappé burst of pace. However, they were too lenient in defending, allowing Ludovic Blas
Read on m.allfootballapp.com
