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PSG scored a clinical win over Valencia in the first leg of the knockout fixture between the two clubs, but saw their win marred Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s sending off. A first half lead of two goals to nil was maintained till the last minute of the game, when Adil Rami ran on to a free-kick to give Valencia a goal in hand for the return leg. Ibrahimovic, sent off for an unnecessary challenge in the dying moments, will miss the return leg of the fixture in Paris, along with midfielder Marco Verratti.
It was the home side who began the game on a confident note, with a couple of adventurous forays, which nearly paid off. However, it was PSG who had the better opportunities with their initial attacks, as new recruit Lucas Moura struck the post with a powerful shot after the referee had waved play on for an advantage in spite of a foul on Ibrahimovic in the buildup. A couple of minutes later, just before the ten-minute mark, PSG scored the first goal of the game, and a vital away goal at that.
Ezequiel Lavezzi broke through the Valencia defence and unleashed a fierce shot on target, which made its way through Guaita’s hands, courtesy sheer power. There may be some criticism of the ‘keeper, who has just fought his way back into the number one position at Valencia, but considering the force with which Lavezzi struck the ball, it would perhaps be a bit unfair.
Valencia continued to press the visitors hard, using their width to good effect by whipping in a few telling crosses into the box. Many were cleared by the PSG defence, or collected by their ‘keeper, but a couple caused real problems, with Guardado coming closest to scoring when he blasted just over the bar from the edge of the box. There was a bit of controversy in the game when Lavezzi stayed down after a challenge from Tino Costa, and Joao Pereira saw the ball forcefully kicked into the stands off his feet by Verratti, when he was himself about to put it out into touch. This was followed by Verratti going head-to-head with the Portuguese international, resulting in both players receiving a booking from the referee.
PSG had only about a third of the possession, as they played their game on the counter attack, but showed much more composure around the final third, drawing a decent save from Guaita. Javier Pastore could have taken a shot from a tight angle in the box after feinting past a defender, but chose to lay it off for Lavezzi instead, whose shot was unsurely gathered in by the Valencia custodian. Guaita seemed to be the weakest link for the home side, and PSG made the most of it with a second goal through Pastore.
Just a few minutes before the break, Lucas Moura got past a couple of players on the right flank and rolled the ball to Pastore’s feet. The Argentine’s shot was straight at Guaita, who was too slow to react, and let it roll into the net with a deflection off his feet, even letting it pass in between them. 2 – 0 to the visitors, in spite of having meager possession.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first with Valencia having most of the possession, but now with two strikers up front instead of just Soldado. Valverde, the recently appointed manager at Valencia, chose to make two changes at half time, introducing Sergio Canales, and Nelson Valdez; the latter joining Soldado in leading the attack. There could have been a goal at each end on the hour mark, first when Roberto Soldado broke through the PSG defence, but could not bring the ball down at his feet, and then when Ibrahimovic’s shot was deflected to Lavezzi’s feet by Guaita, but the ball went wide of goal due to Lavezzi’s inability to control his effort.
PSG had the ball in the back of the net through Chantome, about twenty minutes from time, but had the goal ruled out for offside. This came after Guaita had pulled off an excellent save one-on-one with Ibrahimovic, with the ball falling to Chantome in the ensuing scramble. Valencia, for their part, never really looked like troubling Sirigu in the PSG goal, with Tino Costa coming closest to scoring with a direct free kick, which made it all the way past the players and required a diving punch from the ‘keeper. However, in the final minute of added time, the home team managed to pull one back through Adil Rami. It was yet another Tino Costa free-kick which caused the trouble, with Rami allowed to run on to it in the box, and easily slot it home to make the scoreline 1 – 2.
There was some drama yet left in the match, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic found himself unnecessarily sent off with a direct red card for challenging Guardado by going over the top of the ball. It was an end to the game, which will give Valencia some real hope for the return leg, with only a goal’s deficit to overturn, and Ibrahimovic unavailable for the Parisian club. They will, however, have to be mindful of the away goal rule though, which now leaves them requiring at least two goals when they travel to Paris in three weeks’ time.
Result: Valencia (Adil Rami 90’) 1 – 2 Paris Saint Germain (Ezequiel Lavezzi 10’, Javier Pastore 43’)
