Mauricio Pochettino’s first match as Paris Saint-Germain’s head coach took place this Wednesday evening at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. We have the player ratings.
Paris Saint-Germain were fighting to take the top spot in the French league on today’s clash against Saint-Etienne. Pochettino‘s side were expected to take home a clear win against a mid-table team. However, his managerial career at PSG didn’t begin as expected. Saint-Etienne took the lead around the 19th-minute mark after a gross mistake from the defense. Kehrer made a risky pass to Idrissa Gueye who failed to control the ball near the box and practically handed Romain Hamouma the goal.
However, Paris Saint-Germain received a huge boost as Moise Kean tied the game just three minutes later. Di Maria offered a great pass to Mbappe who quickly took the defender out of the equation. The forward passed it to Verrati that let Moise Kean finish the job with a wonderful turn.
Paris Saint-Germain never really looked like they could win the match. Although they had a whopping 69% ball possession, they failed to create much danger. In fact, Saint-Etienne had the most dangerous opportunities in the match. The French club posed a continuous threat to Pochettino’s side as they won most aerial duels and sent a header to the crossbar. PSG was only able to cause any danger with Mbappe’s advances on the left side of the pitch.
Mauricio Pochettino and his team now have a three-point difference against Ligue 1 leaders Lyon, who secured a home win this Wednesday evening.
Player ratings
Saint-Etienne: Moulin (8), Debuchy (6), Moukoudi (7), Retsos (7), Kolodziejczak (7), Nordin (7), Gourna-Douath (7), Youssouf (7), Monnet-Paquet (6), Bouanga (7), Hamouma (8).
Bench: Boudebouz (7), Aouchiche (5), Abi (5), Moueffek (5), Sissoko (5).
Paris Saint-Germain: Navas (7), Dagba (6), Kehrer (4), Marquinhos (6), Bakker (6), Gueye (5), Verrati (7), Herrera (6), Di Maria (7), Mbappe (7), Kean (7).
Bench: Draxler (7), Pembele (6), Sarabia (5).