Paris Saint-Germain’s home game against Olympique Lyonnais should have been played on Sunday evening. It kicked off 24 hours later instead, after police in the French capital banned the original slot and the Ligue de Football Professionnel reset the match for Monday. Luis Enrique’s side spent most of the night working at a stubborn Lyon block before two late goals settled it.
The deadlock broke in the 72nd minute. Senny Mayulu, on from the bench, finished off an exchange with Mika Godts. Twelve minutes later Godts, also a substitute, chased a long ball forward and struck from the edge of the box for his first PSG goal.
The win moved PSG a point above Rennes at the top of Ligue 1 after eight matchdays and completed a fifth consecutive league victory. Lyon dropped to fifth.
A ban from the Paris police prefecture
The LFP announced on Friday 23 October that the Sunday 8:45pm local time kick-off could not take place, saying it had taken note of a Paris police prefecture order prohibiting the match. The game was reset for 8:30pm local time the following evening, and the Toulouse-Troyes fixture was moved by a day as well.
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French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said about 70,000 security personnel would be deployed around the country across the weekend. Paris was braced for a second round of demonstrations after rioting and looting had broken out during the protests of 17 October.
The Monday slot clashed with the Ballon d’Or ceremony in London, where reigning winner Ousmane Dembele was among ten PSG nominees unable to attend.
Enrique dedicates the night to Kvaratskhelia
PSG played without Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who had ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in last week’s 4-2 Champions League win over Barcelona. Enrique dedicated the result to the Georgian winger.
“It’s a very important win and we dedicate it to Kvara,” the head coach said on PSG’s official channel.
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He also used the result to point at his reserves, telling Goal that his two goalscorers belonged to a group waiting for minutes.
“We got our goals from players that haven’t played as much recently and I’m very happy for Senny Mayulu, Quentin Ndjantou, Mika Godts, Beraldo and Lucas Hernandez, all the substitutes.”
Kvaratskhelia is scheduled to undergo surgery in Qatar and will miss the rest of the season.
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