Reuters/Paris
A below par Zlatan Ibrahimovic failed to improve Paris St Germain’s limp start to the season on Sunday as the French champions stuttered to a 1-1 home draw in Ligue 1 against Olympique Lyonnais.
Samuel Umtiti’s goal five minutes from time cancelled out Edinson Cavani’s first-half opener as the visitors played boldly, even missing out on the win in the closing stages after some ugly defending by PSG.
PSG, who were held to a 1-1 draw at Ajax Amsterdam in their Champions League opener last week, are fifth with 10 points from six games, three behind leaders and arch rivals Olympique de Marseille.
Sunday’s result at the Parc des Princes can be explained by the poor performance of fullback Lucas Digne and of the centre backs Marquinhos and David Luiz, but coach Laurent Blanc’s substitutions were also questionable.
In the second half, he opted to substitute Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi, who had been rather good, while he left Ibrahimovic on the pitch despite the Sweden striker’s poor performance.
Ibrahimovic only managed one shot on target. “We conceded a stupid goal but it’s just the beginning of the season,” Digne told Canal Plus.
The home side imposed their usual possessive pattern on the game against Lyon, and were quickly rewarded as Cavani opened the scoring with a downward header from Digne’s perfect cross, giving PSG a deserved lead.
Lyon came close to an equaliser 10 minutes later when Arnold Mvuemba curled a fine free kick onto the crossbar.
The visitors eventually got what they deserved in the 85th minute when Umtiti scored with a deflected shot from a packed goalmouth.
Earlier, Monaco finally found something to cheer about in Ligue 1 when Nabil Dirar’s goal earned them a 1-0 home win against En Avant Guingamp.
Substitute Dirar, who came on for the injured Anthony Martial early on, struck seven minutes from the interval to lift his team to 15th in the standings on seven points after six games.
Monaco, who lost key Colombian players Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez during the transfer window, trail Marseille by six points.
The principality side, runners-up behind Paris St Germain last season, got off to a woeful start this term, losing three of their first five games.
But a 1-0 win in their Champions League opener against Bayer Leverkusen last week boosted their confidence and Monaco ended the Guingamp defence’s resilience in the 38th minute.
Both PSG and Monaco will play twice next week.
Monaco will be at Montpellier on Wednesday and at home against Nice on Saturday while PSG play away to Caen and Toulouse on Wednesday and Saturday respectively.
PSG’s Edinson Cavani (C) celebrates with teammates Zlatan Ibrahimovic (L) and Yohan Cabaye (R) after scoring during the Ligue 1 match against Olympiqu
