PSG beats Leipzig
Neymar nets early penalty in win
PARIS – Neymar scored an early penalty as a nervous Paris Saint-Germain scraped a 1-0 home win against a wasteful Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday.
PSG was beaten by Bayern Munich in last season’s final, but needed a win after losing two of its first three group games.
Although PSG moved above Leipzig and into second place in Group H – behind Manchester United – coach Thomas Tuchel’s side played poorly. PSG was fortunate to stumble upon a German side lacking a cutting edge, and so Neymar’s 11th-minute spot kick proved enough.
“We needed a win and now we have one. We played with a lot of heart, it was a very tough match. I knew it would be,” Tuchel said.
Lackluster PSG’s relief at winning was as evident as it was exaggerated, with Neymar and the surprisingly ineffective Kylian Mbappe – both taken off late – aggressively leaping from the bench at the final whistle.
“This was a test for us, and a test we wanted to pass,” PSG captain Marquinhos said. “The team managed to pull together when things got tough.”
Neymar’s first Champions League goal this season came after Leipzig captain Marcel Sabitzer fouled forward Angel Di Maria breaking into the area.
Neymar took a trademark staggered runup and placed the ball just out of the reach of Hungary goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi’s left hand after he went the right way.
Tensions got to PSG at Parc des Princes. Di Maria appeared angry at being taken off by Tuchel midway through the second half; Neymar was shown a yellow card for hacking down Sabitzer; and substitute Marco Verratti seemed fortunate to escape a red for a lunging tackle on Christopher Nkunku that drew blood from the former PSG player’s knee.
While PSG constantly gave the ball away, sloppy Leipzig failed to take advantage of long phases of possession. The visitors were let down by rushed final passes, neat but too predictable sideways passing, and attacking players often easily knocked off the ball.
“I think we were the better team,” Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “Paris didn’t really have any chances, they defended very deep and compact. They blocked one or two of our shots, our crosses weren’t really finding their target. We did enough to deserve at least a draw, now we need to win both games and hope Paris don’t win both of theirs.”
PSG opened this campaign with a 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United and lost 2-1 three weeks ago in Leipzig.
PSG plays United at Old Trafford on Dec. 2 before hosting Basaksehir six days later.