PSG lose unbeaten Ligue 1 record ahead of Arsenal showdown
AFP, Paris :
Paris Saint-Germain saw their unbeaten record in Ligue 1 this season finally ended in a 3-1 home defeat against Nice on Friday, just ahead of their Champions League semi-final showdown against Arsenal.
PSG had been hoping to become the first team ever to complete a French top-flight season without losing a game, but Morgan Sanson scored twice for Nice as the visitors claimed all three points against the run of play.
Fabian Ruiz had brought PSG level late in the first half, cancelling out Sanson’s opener. However, Sanson scored again just 22 seconds into the second half, and Youssouf Ndayishimiye later headed in to make it 3-1.
“For me the result is not fair but that’s football, you have to accept it,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique, who saw his side dominate the game with 76 percent possession and over 30 shots on goal.
PSG had been unbeaten in 30 Ligue 1 matches this season, and had not lost any of their last 41 games against French opposition since a 3-1 home loss against Toulouse on May 12 last year.
The result means PSG, who had already secured a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title at the start of this month, fall short of equalling the record for the longest unbeaten run from the beginning of a French season.
That record is still held by Nantes, who went undefeated for 32 matches before suffering their sole defeat on the way to winning the title in 1994/95.
PSG must now quickly put this defeat behind them as they head to London for the first leg of their Champions League last-four tie against Arsenal on Tuesday, before the return at the Parc des Princes on May 7.
“The possibility of beating a couple more records was an objective for us in these last few weeks,” admitted Luis Enrique.
“It wasn’t to be, but it does not in any way change our objective of carrying on in the Champions League and getting to the final.”
PSG had started with a full-strength line-up but were denied by a string of fine saves by Nice goalkeeper Marcin Bulka.
“What I saw, I would take that again in London on Tuesday and in the return leg,” Luis Enrique added.
“I am not worried at all. When you have a team that doesn’t speculate, that tries to attack, presses, doesn’t stop running, but doesn’t take their chances and the opposition goalkeeper makes some incredible saves, well that’s football and I accept it.”