PSG Slip at Lorient: Hakimi Missing, Drama on the Field and a 1-1 Tie

Match report

Paris Saint-Germain continue their points drain in the French league as they are held to a 1-1 draw away at Lorient on Wednesday in the tenth round of the season. Nuno Mendes opens the scoring for PSG in the 49th minute, but Lorient respond swiftly through Igor Silva in the 51st minute.

PSG leave the game with nine points dropped from ten games, while their total rises to 21 points, temporarily at the top until other results come in. Lorient climb to nine points, sitting sixteenth, after a hard fought point against the reigning champions.

Lineups and key moments

Manager Luis Enrique makes bold choices from the outset, naming young Kentin Enganto in midfield for the first time this season ahead of Vitinha. Ousmane Dembele returns to the starting lineup for the first time since his Ballon dOr win, following a muscle injury that kept him sidelined for over six weeks, while Hakimi is rested. Vitinha and Joao Neves start on the bench.

Paris Saint-Germain control the first half but fail to carve out real chances due to the lineup changes and a lack of cohesion across the pitch. Lorient push forward and goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo makes a couple of sharp saves in the 37th and 43rd minutes to keep it level at half time.

In the second half, Enrique freshens the attack by bringing on Vitinha and Neves. Four minutes after the restart, a cross from Desire Doy is neatly headed home by Nuno Mendes to put PSG ahead.

Nuno Mendes then nets again, his second goal in eight Ligue 1 matches this season, but the hosts strike back less than two minutes later as Arsen Kwasi drives forward from the left and Igor Silva fires in from the edge of the box.

Mvogo continues to frustrate PSG as Dembele suffers an injury in the 63rd minute and is replaced by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. The visitors push for a winner but attempts from Vitinha, Kvaratskhelia and Enganto miss, and the match ends with the scoreline unchanged after seven minutes of stoppage time.

PSG have recorded six wins, one defeat to Marseille in a clash that coincided with the Ballon dOr ceremony, and two draws this season. They beat Nantes, Angers, Toulouse 6-3, Lens 2-0 and Brest 2-0, before the international break; a 1-1 draw at Lille and a 3-3 home draw with Strasbourg preceded a fresh win against Brest and now the Lorient stalemate as they chase the domestic title again.

Punchline 1: PSG's defense is so unpredictable it could audition for a theatre troupe, just with more drama and less blocking. Punchline 2: If you love cliffhangers, the season ticket is basically for The Draw, Volume 2.