PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN were brought back down to Earth with a bump on Sunday night by title rivals Monaco.
The defending French champions – who battered Spanish big boys Barcelona last Tuesday – suffered a 2-0 defeat to Les Monegasques at the Parc des Princes.
Sofiane Diop celebrates scoring Monaco’s opener against Paris Saint-GermainCredit: Getty
Guillermo Maripan wheels away after scoring Monaco’s second in the 51st minuteCredit: AP
Goals from Sofiane Diop and Guillermo Maripan condemned the Parisians to only their second defeat under new boss Mauricio Pochettino.
France Under-20 international Diop opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a well-placed header, his fifth goal of the season.
And Maripan doubled the visitors’ lead in the 51st minute with a neat side-foot finish after an error from former Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera.
Pochettino’s troops are now toiling in third place in the Ligue 1 table, four points behind leaders Lille.
The Argentine said: “We were not good enough and that is why we lost the game.
“We decided before but in the moment that we conceded the second goal it’s was similar, two approaches from Monaco and we conceded.
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“Then we dominated the game for more than 75 minutes with the possession of the ball, but we never found a way to break down their defensive line.
“Of course, they defended well and there’s nothing more to say.
“Congratulations to Monaco and we need to work hard to try to turn this type of situation around.”
Monaco chief Niko Kovac was delighted with his troops’ display in the French capital and was particularly pleased by how they nullified the potent threat of Kylian Mbappe.
He said: “I am very happy with the performance of my team. PSG are a great team.
“We played very hard for 90 minutes and we deserved the victory.
A frustrated Kylian Mbappe remonstratesCredit: Reuters
PSG are now toiling in the third place in the Ligue 1 tableCredit: Getty
“They didn’t have a lot of opportunities. I have to congratulate my players.
“Our plan? We had to erase Kylian Mbappe because he’s a great striker.
“We had to deprive him of the ball by putting three or four players on him.
“In defence, we showed another face of Monaco because we didn’t concede many chances.
‘Tonight was wonderful. This is what we needed.
Defeat to Monaco was PSG’s second under Mauricio PochettinoCredit: Getty
“We managed to beat PSG for the second time, now we are going home and going to rest.
“Can we finish in the top three? As I said before, we mainly have to increase the gap with the teams fifth and six.
“There are still a few games left, if we have the chance to close the gap then we will do it. But we are not yet at the level of the first three.”
PSG will look to bounce back from their sixth league defeat of the season on Saturday when they travel to the Stade Gaston Gerard to take on Dijon.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
