Paris Saint-Germain came out on top French First Division Football League tied 2-2 with its guest Stade Reims on Sunday, after coach Luis Enrique put top scorer Kylian Mbappe on the bench before bringing him on in just the last 20 minutes.
Paris Saint-Germain continued its unbeaten run in the French First Division to 20 matches, but it was the third draw in a row for the defending champion after Reims produced an outstanding performance despite scoring an own goal.
After each team obtained one point, Paris Saint-Germain expanded the gap with second-placed Brest to 10 points, while Reims occupies ninth place with 35 points.
Enrique said with a smile in the post-match interview, as he continued to dodge questions about… The club’s all-time top scorer“I can only wish the best for Mbappe. I wish him the best things in the future.”
Early progress
France captain Mbappe has regularly played 90 minutes this season, but has not played a full match for Paris Saint-Germain since he informed the club last month that he would leave on a free transfer at the end of the current season.
Enrique added: “He is a very good player but even more a good person. I wish him the best.”
Reims surprised its rival, the leader of the standings, when it took the lead seven minutes after the start to silence the fans of the Parc des Princes stadium after a mistake by Ashraf Hakimi Paris Saint-Germain player.
The Moroccan international hesitated to pass the ball into the penalty area, but Omar Diakite snatched it from the right back near the goal line, and passed it to Marshall Munetsi to put it into the net.
But it did not take long for Paris Saint-Germain to get their fans excited again, thanks to an own goal when a cross from a corner kick deflected off Reims defender Younes Abdelhamid.
Two minutes later, Goncalo Ramos gave the lead toParis Saint-Germain When Lee Kang-in sent a pass high into the penalty area, the defense misdirected it and it fell to the Portuguese striker, who fired home to make it 2-1.
But Reims made it 2-2 when Diakite took advantage of Saint-Germain’s reliance on an advanced defensive line to break the offside and meet a wonderful pass from Emmanuel Agbado to shoot past goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
Enrique brought on both Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, who tops the list of players with the most goals in the league with seven goals, in the 73rd minute as Saint-Germain sought to score the winning goal.
Mbappe, who has scored 21 goals in the league this season and two goals four days ago in the win over Real Sociedad in… Champions LeagueTwo shots on goal, including a backhand, near the end of the match.
But his late participation did not affect the result, and Rance got a valuable point.
ظهرت في الأصل على www.alaraby.com