Marquinhos and Angel Di Maria netted one each late in the second half to give Paris Saint-Germain a narrow 2-1 comeback victory against Lille, with the winner coming just two minutes from time.
Lille was the better side in the first 45 minutes and had the lead through Jonathan David, as PSG looked disjointed in midfield and toothless in attack, with Kylian Mbappe missing out on the duel as he is still undergoing treatment for his ear, nose and throat (ENT) infection.
The visitors could have opened the scoring just one minute in, but Burak Yilmaz failed to capitalise on a swift counterattack and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma, while Jonathan Ikone sent the ball just wide 12 minutes later.
- Ten-man PSG unable to secure win over Marseille
- Messi scores 2 goals to secure PSG with 3-2 win over RB Leipzig
- After more than a year out, Bernat back in PSG squad
Lille finally managed to break the deadlock just after the half-hour mark through David, who was teed up by Yilmaz inside the box and didn’t miss from close range. The Canadian redirected the Turk’s low cross past Donnarumma and into the net.
PSG’s only clear opportunity in the first half came just before the break when Di Maria found himself unmarked inside Lille’s area but failed to get his effort towards the back post on target.
Immediately after the restart, Donnarumma made another great save with his feet to deny David, who failed to hit the target just before the hour mark, with his effort going just over the crossbar.
From that point on it was all PSG. Di Maria was denied by Ivo Grbic on the hour mark, while Mauro Icardi, who came off the bench at halftime to replace Messi, sent his header just over the crossbar after a sublime cross by Neymar.
PSG finally grabbed an equaliser in the 74th minute, when Di Maria’s stopped cross found Marquinhos at the back post and the PSG captain levelled the match with his first goal of the season.
Pochettino’s men piled the pressure on Lille and after Icardi sent a strike just wide of the left post, Di Maria made sure of the three points with just two minutes to go as he made the most of Neymar’s smooth pass inside the visitors’ area and net his team’s second to turn the game around.
PSG now sit top of the Ligue 1 table with 31 points, with second-placed Lens having 10 points fewer, with reigning champions Lille in 11th place after having picked up just 15 points from 12 games. [AF]
