PSG escape with draw against Clermont
Paris, France - A late Goncalo Ramos goal saved Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain from a home defeat to bottom-of-table Clermont in a 1-1 draw at Parc des Princes on Saturday, after PSG manager Luis Enrique sent out a fully changed side but needed Kylian Mbappe late on.
PSG, with one league loss all season, are on 63 points, 13 ahead of second-placed Brest who play Metz on Sunday. Clermont remain bottom on 21 points, two behind Metz.
PSG went in at the break a goal down after Habib Keita scored in the 32nd minute, but the home side, helped by Mbappe’s appearance later on, salvaged a point with five minutes left through Ramos.
Enrique named a completely different starting line-up to the team that beat Rennes 1-0 in the Coupe de France semi-final on Wednesday, with one eye clearly on next week’s Champions League quarter-final tie with Barcelona.
“My aim was to send out a competitive starting 11, which we did, with many international players,” the PSG manager said afterwards.
Yoram Zague made his PSG debut and another 17-year-old, Senny Mayulu, started his first game for the club after making three substitute appearances earlier this season.
“I congratulate everyone who played, but especially Yoram and Senny, because they are homegrown players and they were superb,” Enrique said.
The first half brought plenty of PSG possession, but they failed to carve out any clear-cut chances apart from a shot by Achraf Hakimi saved by the leg of keeper Massamba Ndiaye, which turned out to be PSG’S only shot on target in the opening half. Instead, it was Clermont who took a shock lead after Milan Skriniar failed to deal with a long ball into the box allowing Yohann Magnin to get a cross back into the area.
My aim was to send out a competitive starting 11, which we did, with many international players