PSG vs. Le Mans Match Review

By: Thomas | August 16th, 2009

Match Summary:

Yesterday, in their first home match of the season, Our Rouges et Bleus overcame staunch opposition in the form of a Le Mans UC 72 side who had held seven time champions Olympique Lyonnais to a draw in week one. PSG seemed completely in control in the first half, restricting LMUC to a single chance on goal, which, due to a lapse in communication by center backs Sammy Traore and Mamadou Sakho, they converted. The home side were quick to respond, when Melvut Erding scored his first goal for the club ten minutes later. Attacking trio Sessegnon, Luyindula, and Giuly all went close, but the first half ended 1-1. In the second half, the match was far more even, with Le Mans getting off ten shots. However, it was PSG who took the lead at the hour mark when Frederic Thomas embarrassed himself by sending the ball into Roche’s net. The match was very much up in the air until the 81st minute, with Gregory Coupet forced into numerous quality saves. However, 10 minutes before time, substitute Kezman’s through ball sent Ludovic Giuly through on goal, wrapping up the game for the Parisians.

Player Ratings:

Gregory Coupet: Our new keeper had an excellent game producing point blank top quality saves against Modibo Maiga and Roland Lamah. He handled set pieces well, and there was really nothing he could do on the goal. 8.
Ceara: Our Brazilian had little to do this game, as Anthony Le Tallec was surprisingly quiet, but he did swing in some decent crosses. 6.5.
Mamadou Sakho: He was generally solid on defense, but he did let Helstad behind him several times and is partly to blame for the goal. 5.5.
Sammy Traore: Missed a crucial interception, allowing Helstad’s goal, but after that was the more solid of our center backs. 6.
Sylvain Armand: Our vice-captain had a good game today, adequately dealing with Maiga as well as combining well with Sessegnon in attack. 7.
Ludovic Giuly: Had another good game. Although he did little early in the game, he had a good chance late in the first half and was involved in several attacks. He took his goal coolly and professionally, making it look easy. 7.5.
Claude Makelele: The Real Madrid and Chelsea veteran had a good display today, breaking up opposition attacks as well as contributing offensively. 7.5.
Jeremy Clement: It may have just been the quality of the stream, but I found myself forgetting Clement was on the pitch. Was he actually invisible? Or was it just me? Since I don’t know, I’m giving him a 5.
Stephane Sessegnon: This guy is quickly becoming my favorite player on the team. Another class performance in which he could have scored three goals with some luck. I give him credit for the own goal, as I’m pretty sure that the deflection did not change the direction or force of the ball. He seemed to be heavily involved in every attack and his off the ball movement and teamwork was great. 8.5.
Peguy Luyindula: He seemed invisible in the first half. Whenever a forward got the ball it was Erding, anywhere on the pitch. He did position himself well later, but seems to have developed an aversion to actually putting the ball in the net.6.
Melvut Erding: Erding had a spectacular game. He always wanted the ball, went all over the field to support his teammates, and scored a beautiful goal on his home debut just like Pauleta and Hoarau. He’s only 22. Methinks we have a quality striker here. 9.

Substitutes:
67′ Kezman for Sessegnon: At first I was baffled by this one. Putting in a striker for a midfielder when we’re trying to protect a one goal lead? Especially Kezman? But I was proved wrong and Mateja created the goal that wrapped up the game for us. 7.
72′ Jallet for Erding: Jallet was played wide on the right and won the ball that lead to Giuly’s goal. A solid performance considering he was out of position. 6.5.
82′ Ngoyi for Giuly: Incomplete.

Match Statistics:

PSG LMUC
51% –Possession– 49%
6 / 14 –Shots on target / Total shots– 6 / 10
2 –Offsides– 0
8 –Corner-Kicks– 5
26 –Crosses– 16
15 –Throw-Ins– 13
14 –Fouls– 17

Post-Match Interviews:

For French speakers here’s a video of interviews with players and staff at the Parc after the game.

Réactions et Joie après PSG- Le Mans (3-1) sélectionné dans Sport et Football

And for the English speakers…

Antoine Kombouaré (PSG coach)

“It’s very satisfying. It was a really tough win. I loved the way the players fought. We had a great first half but despite that, we conceded the opening goal against the run of play. But the players never gave up, they kept on playing and we equalized deservedly though a brilliant goal from Erding. That was great for him. At 2-1 Greg Coupet produced a brilliant stop and we went on to score a third. I liked the players’ attitude, their spirit. There were doubts and questions. It was only one game, one victory, but it’s good for the confidence. We’re not going to let it go to our heads though. I also liked the reaction of the supporters, even when we were trailing they stayed right behind us, pushing us on. I hope the party continues like that!”

Ludovic Giuly (PSG forward)

“It’s always important to get the three points at home, especially after the average result last weekend against Montpellier. There was a great atmosphere tonight so it was a good night. I had four good chances to score in the first half and I should have put at least one of them away. I was starting to doubt myself, but I got the goal late on after a good ball from Kezman.”

Sylvain Armand (PSG defender)

“We never worried. We’re not going to start getting our heads down at the start of the season, even if the Montpellier result was a little hard to take. Tonight we conceded a goal due to a positioning problem, but we were mentally strong and fought back. Erding’s goal just before half-time was very important. I tried to get forward and combine well with the incredibly talented Stéphane Sessegnon. He tries to cut inside to open the left corridor for me but it wasn’t easy tonight because it was really hot!”

Voila!