PSG misses opportunity against Dynamo Kyiv
By: j | April 9th, 2009Paris Saint-Germain’s vision of advancing to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup took a wrong turn as they were held to a scoreless draw by Ukraine powerhouse Dynamo Kyiv at Parc des Princes.
The storyline of the match, as as so often been the case of PSG’s UEFA Cup “efforts” has been Paul Le Guen subordinating the importance of the match to domestic play. While it was no surprise given his pre-match commentary, the Parisians decision to take the pitch with Claude Makélélé and Ludovic Giuly out of the starting eleven was clear indication that the fortunate arrival into the quarter-finals of the UEFA wasn’t the same level of importance of its hearty supporters. Although the depth of les Rouge et Bleu is problematic, to take an advanced position at the UEFA Cup so lightly is unnerving as they missed a tremendous chance to take a lead at home.
Despite Claude Makélélé and Ludovic Giuly out of the lineup, PSG had a number of solid opportunities and will rue their missed chances. Stéphane Sessegnon and Jérôme Rothen were up to their best with Dynamo ‘kpper Stanyslav Bohush continuing to live up to his promise and deny the hosts early on. In the final fifteen minutes of the opening half the Dynamo ‘keeper denied Clément Chantôme and Paris-native Jérôme Rothen with match-saving work. After the break Dynamo stirred with Artem Milevskiy creating problems however they couldn’t find a way past Mickaël Landreau. Péguy Luyindula made claims before the hour but they fell on deaf ears with. After the hour Mateja Kežman was introduced with twenty-three year-old Jean-Eudes Maurice making his debut fifteen minutes later but neither side were able find a way through and the match ended without further incident.
Following the match Paul Le Guen noted his frustration with the result however with his choice of lineup was a roll of the dice that did not go his way. Now, PSG will need to pull out a victory in Kyiv and rest-assured the Lobanovsky faithful will be out in full force.
Category: Team News
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Comments
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Giuly could have made a difference in this match. He makes the good final pass in a lot of the situations PSG attackers botched. For a stretch in the first half when both PSG shots on target happened I was worried but after that Bohush barely had to work at all.
I was pretty disappointed by the Dynamo attack yesterday. I understand there was a conservative game plan, but when the openings came Aliyev, Milevskiy, and Ninkovic lacked the creativity. And Aliyev’s set piece deliveries were just awful. On the positive side we kept possession well and there were very few defensive errors and bad passes. With a more agressive mindset at home I think Dynamo can create a lot of chances.
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United States
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They had plenty of chances to score. They were very unlucky. Giuly might have made a difference but they still should havc had at least 2 or 3 goals. Kezman really is useless isnt he. It was funny hearing the English tv announcer touting him so highly when he probably doesnt even know he’s done nothing all year.
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United States -
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Yevy; To me this draw was “victory” for Dynamo and Yuri Semin played this as a master stroke. With the exception of the early work Stéphane Sessegnon and Jérôme Rothen, Dynamo knew they could keep this match bolted down and put it all on the line in Kyiv. It was a smart call by Dynamo as Kyiv will be in full support as we both know.
For Paul Le Guen the approach was a role of the dice that didn’t turn out. I understand his plan but at this stage and given some potentially significant changes coming with the club for next year, I think he should have been all-in for the match. The crowd at Parc des Princes was hoping for a last minute change in the lineup and wasn’t pleased with his choices they will need a different plan to win in Kyiv. I was surprised how casually the match was taken as well.
Sportboy, yes they did have plenty of early chances so hopefully they can build upon those positives. I’m not aware of the English announcers but will trust your word on it but please fill me in more. I’ve always thought the English media does a miserable job on many leagues including both Ligue 1 and the Ukrainian Premier League.
As far as Mateja Kežman, I am a big supporter of him, as with many players from the very broad Balkan area but more than aware he hasn’t fit-in with Paris Saint-Germain. He made a lot of concessions in orchestrating the plan to bring him to Paris and really wanted to “turn the corner” on his past problems but I seriously question if he ever was in Paul Le Guen’s plans. It’s a tough position because he’s a proud person, who recognizes some mistakes of the past but was looking for a new start. Unfortunately this didn’t answer that hope and I very much doubt his option to purchase will be picked up and we’ll have to wait and see where he’ll end up.
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Bulgaria
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