PSG 2:1 Strasbourg
Paris Saint-Germain edged past Strasbourg 2:1 in Ligue 1's fifth round at Stade Jean-Bouin on Saturday. By then the hosts had built a comfortable lead, though the final scoreline suggested a tighter contest than the match warranted.
Ilan Kebbal opened the scoring in the eighteenth minute, and Paris kept their heads after a Maxime López yellow card in the fortieth. Pablo Pagis doubled the advantage five minutes after the interval, and here's the thing — Strasbourg rarely threatened in return. The visitors managed just one shot on target all afternoon.
Substitutions came thick and fast in the second half. Hamari Traore made way for Jacobo Ortega in the fifty-eighth, and then a wave of changes swept through both sides around the sixty-seventh minute. Giovanni Reyna, Samir El-Mourabet and Sebastian Nanasi arrived for Strasbourg, while Pagis and Kebbal were withdrawn for Paris.
Moustapha Mbow bundled an own goal into his net in the eighty-eighth minute, and the visitors picked up two more yellow cards in stoppage time. Thibault De Smet and Luca Koleosho both went into the book as the match wound down.
PSG dominated possession at fifty-one percent and registered seven shots on target compared to Strasbourg's solitary attempt. The hosts created one big chance and accumulated 1.05 expected goals, while the visitors managed just 0.24. We predicted a Paris win at forty-three per cent confidence, and it came through.
The result keeps PSG in third place with eleven points from five matches. Strasbourg sit seventh on seven points, two wins, one draw and two defeats telling their story.
