Mauricio Pochettino who has been appointed the head coach of Paris Saint German, after the sacking of Thomas Tuchel by December, had not managed his first game until Wednesday, 6th January, 2020.
The much anticipated game which was against Saint Etienne ended in a draw, with many attention paid to the former PSG player’s team selection after he had mentioned that everyone would be selected on merit.
Though Pochettino’s starting lineup could not be judged properly given the fact that the squad is affected by injuries, with about nine players injured, including star player, Neymar who is set to return on 10th of January.
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The French capital club lined up in their usual 4-3-3 formation as opposed to the 4-2-3-1 which Mauricio Pochettino often patronised back at English Premier League side, Tottenham.
Kylian Mbappe who usually lined up in the centre forward position was made to play in the left wing in the absence of Neymar, while Di Maria retained his position in the right wing forward position.
The midfield was occupied by Ander Herrera, Marco Verratti and Idrissa Gueye. While the Marquinhos was paired by T. Kehrer at the heart of the defence, with Dagba and Baker playing the wing side of the defence.
In a clash that was tipped in favour of Paris Saint German, the first goal was scored by Saint Etienne in the 19th minute by Hamouma. A goal which would be responded by Moise Kean three minutes later.
At that point, one would think that the goals in the match would come more especially from Pochettino’s men who remain in second position, but PSG would fail to follow up on Kean’s equalizer with the French capital side having only one shot on target in the second half.
Awesome saves from Keylor Navas was all that prevented Saint Etienne from taking all three points at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
PSG now move up to second position, three points behind league leaders Lyon. Though, they might slip to third, if Marseille who are five points behind them and in fifth position, with two games in hand, emerge victorious in those fixtures.
