PARIS:
The Paris Saint-Germain team is missing through injury Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe hit the stomach warmed up for their Champions League clash against Bayern Munich by falling 3-1 to Monaco in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
All the goals came in the first half at the Stade Louis II, with Aleksandr Golovin putting Monaco ahead inside four minutes and Wissam Ben Yedder doubling the home team’s lead.
16-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery pulled one back for PSG while Ben Yedder scored his second of the game, and his 19th goal of the season, to make it 3-1 at the break.
PSG remain at the top of the table, although their position has been reduced to five points over Marseille, who won 2-0 in Clermont.
Monaco are now in third place, seven points behind the leaders, but seeing the gap between their rivals shrink is the least of their worries. PSG now, as they fell to their second defeat in four days.
Also beaten by Marseille in the last 16 of the French Cup in midweek, Christophe Galtier’s side have lost three times in seven league games in 2023.
PSG will be without Mbappe, their top scorer, due to a thigh injury for the Champions League last-16 first leg against Bayern at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.
Galtier should also hope to recover Messi in time from the suspension that prevented him from traveling to the country.
PSG were also without player Marco Verratti, the brother of Renato Sanches and defender Nordi Mukiele due to injury before it appeared that many members of the team were lying down in the stomach in the morning of the game.
“We have to do what we can with the players we have available at the moment. It’s strange to say PSG but that’s the situation,” said Galtier.
Special players such as Sergio Ramos and Achraf Hakimi appeared in the second half before Presnel Kimpembe made his first appearance since the World Cup after injury.
PSG were already 3-1 down when one of them came on and could have been more of a defeat had it not been for the uninspired goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
After the match, Kimpembe used a megaphone to apologize to the PSG fans.
“If I hadn’t been worried right now something serious would have happened,” added Galtier.
“We have a weak command structure and a weak team but we are worried.
“I understand the anger of the fans, it is reasonable, but we have to stand together in these difficult times.”
Having already been beaten by Lens and Rennes in Ligue 1 since the end of the year, the capital side fell behind when Ben Yedder helped set up Russia international Golovin to score from distance.
El Chadaille Bitshiabu, the 17-year-old full-back, was brought down on the edge of his own area by Krepin Diatta, allowing Ben Yedder to shoot in and make it 2-0 in the 18th minute.
Donnarumma hit Ruben Aguilar well before the visitors pulled one back after Juan Bernat’s low ball into the face of goal was converted by Zaire-Emery.
But Donnarumma hit back from Golovin and then Frenchman Ben Yedder in hopes of restoring Monaco’s two-goal lead at half-time.
PSG, with Neymar unable to make an impact, rarely threatened in the second half and again needed their Italian keeper to interfere on several occasions, including making a good stop to deny Takumi Minamino in the end.
Marseille’s game at Clermont did not start until almost 10:00 pm, almost 50 minutes later than planned, after events outside the stadium led to the use of tear gas guards.
The players stayed in the dressing rooms while the supporters covered their faces as tear gas flowed over the Stade Gabriel-Montpied.
Authorities told AFP that around 100 people without passports tried to enter the site and were pushed back by police, before the barriers to enter the car park were destroyed. for visitors.
Alexis Sanchez scored both goals for Marseille, earning a penalty just before half-time and entering a second delay.
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