Lucas Lifts 10-Man PSG to Rare Season-Opening Win
Paris Saint-Germain were a man down after just half hour's play but managed to register a 1-0 win against Lille.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: August 08, 2015 09:08 AM IST
A second half goal from Brazilian winger Lucas Moura gave ten-man Paris Saint-Germain a 1-0 win, their first in a Ligue 1 opener since their new Qatari owners took over in 2011, at Lille on Friday.
The three-time Ligue 1 champions were a player down after half an hour after midfielder Adrien Rabiot was given his marching orders for two yellow cards in the space of five minutes.
Rabiot picked up the first on 22 minutes for a dangerous tackle on Lille midfielder Florent Balmont, and minutes later was sent off by referee Fredy Fautrel for a foul on defender Sebastian Corchia.
In the sole Ligue 1 game on Friday night, the Parisians had been struggling to contain Lille who finished eighth last season and were playing their first competitive match under new coach Herve Renard.
But the misfortune of Rabiot, who has been no stranger to controversy, spurred Laurent Blanc's side into action.
Rabiot, who had a spat with Zlatan Ibrahimovic during a friendly against Chelsea in July, had been favoured over Thiago Motta despite several run-ins with coach Laurent Blanc at the end of last season.
Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore filled in for injured Swede Ibrahimovic while awaiting the availability of new Argentinian recruit Angel Di Maria.
PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, who arrived from Frankfurt for 12 million euros from Eintracht Frankfurt this summer, was in goal at the expense of Italian Salvatore Sirigu.
After Rabiot's explusion, Lille's Eric Bautheac stepped up but failed to convert the resulting free kick which David Luiz and Trapp managed to contain.
Lucas, who scored seven Ligue 1 goals last season, finally got the breakthrough after 57 minutes to give PSG their first away win in a season opener in 19 years.
At the heart of the action, Lucas passed to Edinson Cavani who pushed on to Blaise Matuidi, returning the ball to Lucas for a brillant solo run through the Lille defence and past goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama into an empty net.
And despite their numerical inferiority the Parisians were never really worried by Lille.
The capital club are bidding for their fourth straight Ligue 1 title this season having won every domestic trophy available last season.
They have already won silverware at the start of this campaign, beating Lyon 2-0 in last weekend's Champions Trophy in Montreal.
The remainder of the Ligue 1 matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday with last season's runners-up Lyon opening their campaign against Lorient at the Stade de Gerland.