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Fabian Ruiz (left) and Bradley Barcola (centre). —AFP/File
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PARIS: Bradley Barkola showed new signing Khoicha Kvartskheliya will not give up his place in the Paris Saint-Germain line-up easily as his late strike earned the Ligue 1 leaders a 2-1 win at Lens on Saturday. Delivery
It looked as if PSG were going to drop points in their final domestic outing before next Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Manchester City as they fell behind to Mbala Nzola’s goal for Lens in the first half.
However, Barcola set up Fabian Ruiz to equalize for PSG just before the hour mark, and the France winger then scored a fine winner with four minutes remaining. Luis Enrique’s side are unbeaten domestically this season and are now 10 points clear of Marseille at the top of Ligue 1, who host Strasbourg on Sunday.
PSG, who were without Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos and the ill Ousmane Dembele at Lens, now face Pep Guardiola’s City in a key European competition. The French champions sit one point and one place outside the qualifying places for the knockout stages and therefore cannot afford to lose to City at the Parc des Princes. “We’re really happy to continue our positive momentum going into a competition that’s important. For us,” coach Luis Enrique said.
Kvaratskhelia, brought in to compete with Barkula for the left-wing spot, was not involved in Lens, who completed his reported 70 million-euro ($72m) move from Napoli to PSG late on Friday night. Georgian is also not eligible. Play against City or in their final Champions League leg match away to VfB Stuttgart on 29 January.
However, Luis Enrique is excited to see what Kvaratskhelia can add to the PSG team in the second half of the season. “He has everything we want from a new signing, the experience gained as a young player, the character, and the ability to score goals,” said the 23-year-old PSG coach. help me
“Today our attack was very good but he is a great reinforcement.” Barcola, Desire Doue and Lee Kang-in all started in Paris attack at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, where Lens went ahead on 36 minutes.
The visiting defense failed to deal with a Przemysław Frankowski corner and the ball fell to Nazula at the back post, where he controlled it before heading over. On 57 minutes, Nazula put the ball back into the net but the offside flag went up, and PSG. Then just two minutes later, the equalizer came.
Lens defender Malingsaar found himself inside the box but couldn’t find the ball, which allowed Barcola to seize it and cut it past Spain midfielder Ruiz. Controlled Jao Neves’ pass before firing high into the net. It was his 11th goal. season in Ligue 1, allowing him to join Lille’s Jonathan David and Marseille’s Mason Greenwood at the top of the scorers’ charts.
Meanwhile, Brest warmed up for their return to Champions League action with a 2-1 win over Brittany rivals Rennes. Hugo Magnetti and Ludovic Ajuric scored for Brest at Roazon Park, with Ludovic Blass pulling one back for the home side.
It was a sixth win in seven games for Brest, who play in Germany on Wednesday against Shakhtar Donetsk, knowing that a victory there can secure them a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Even defeat in this game is unlikely to prevent them from reaching the knockout stages, with a Gala Final league stage game against Real Madrid coming up later this month. They remain fifth but have now won just one of their last four league outings. They were also knocked out of the French Cup in midweek on penalties by fifth-tier Bourgoin-Jallieu.
