Caen 2-2 PSG: lastminute.fr

Jallet: PSG's latest last-minute man

 As procrastinators across the world will tell you, doing stuff at the last minute is no bad thing.

A looming deadline tends to focus the mind, hence why my productivity is pretty low at present but will (hopefully) increase later in the week.

In footballing terms, Paris St Germain are certainly Ligue 1’s greatest procrastinators. Christophe Jallet’s late equaliser at Caen on Saturday night meant PSG have scored in the last five minutes of each of their last five games.

Over the course of the season we have gained an impressive 12 points thanks to goals in the last 15 minutes of matches, while "losing" just two points in the same period (Jonathan Petroipa's late equaliser for Rennes back in August). Without said points we’d be fourth, looking enviously up the table at Montpellier and co, and credit for this remarkable set of statistics should be given to both this season's managers. We're obviously a very fit side, which must at least in part be down to Antoine Kombouare's pre-season training regime, while Carlo Ancelotti seems to have installed a never-say-die attitude in the squad which will be invaluable during the run-in.

On Saturday our lead over Rene Girard’s MHSC team increased by a point after they were surprisingly beaten 1-0 at Nancy. This is obviously good news on the surface, but given Caen’s lowly status one could also look at it as an opportunity missed to give ourselves a four-point cushion. I guess it depends whether your glass is half full or half empty.

After an unimpressive first half, in which Caen twice went close to going in front, Pierre-Alain Frau gave the home side the lead, following up to score after Sirigu had blocked his initial shot.

Javier Pastore equalised a moment later with what was possibly the luckiest goal of his career. El Flaco saw a defender’s attempted clearance ricochet off his shin and find the corner of the net to make it all square.

The PSG defence then gave the opposition their regulation goal from a set-piece. You know how it goes, corner/free kick, no marking to speak of, free header, boom. This time Thomas Heurtaux was the lucky recipient, and it looked as though his would be the decisive impact until Jallet volleyed home in stoppage time.

Ancelotti’s glass is definitely half-full. He said: “Caen played really well and scored from some of their chances. But we showed the character to score in the closing minutes.

“It's a good day because our gap over Montpellier has increased by a point.”

PSG are back in action on Wednesday night, when Lyon come to the Parc-des-Princes for a Coupe de France quarter-final show-down.

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PSG march on as Eden Hazard prepares to march off

(Not my holiday destination)

You may have noticed a lack of activity on this blog in the last week. For once this isn’t down to my laziness, but because I have been en vacance. And very nice it was too, apart from a small delay in getting back (thanks Eurotunnel).

The hurly-burly world of Ligue 1 allows no time for holidays of course, and in my absence the PSG have been busy strengthening their position at the top of the table.

First they proved they can cut the mustard (sorry, but it had to be done) by beating Dijon 2-0 last Sunday. They declined to do so again in a Coupe de Ligue tie played on Wednesday night, which DFCO won 3-2, but got back to winning ways with a comfortable-ish 4-2 victory over Caen on Saturday, making it a club record six consecutive league wins.

“I expected a tough game against a good side, and that is what happened,” Antoine Kombouare said matter-a-factly afterwards. Bloody smart-ass.

“When you have the extra man, it is never easy,” he continued. “I must emphasis how good we were in the second half.”

Indeed, AK’s side played against ten-men for most of the game, and with that in mind perhaps should have won a bit more comfortably than they did. But two penalties for Nene – who now has four goals in two league games – and strikes from Menez and Pastore got the job done.

The manager was probably less happy with his side’s defence, which was absent without leave when Caen scored twice from corners. Sloppy defending at set-pieces has accounted for a lot of the goals PSG have conceded this season, and as I’ve mentioned on here before, the constant chopping and changing of the back-line can’t help. It’s about time AK picked a back four and stuck to it for a few matches, injuries and suspensions permitting of course.

Elsewhere Eden Hazard has put Premier League clubs on red-alert by announcing that, quelle surprise, he’ll be leaving Lille soon. But unfortunately LOSC's Belgian wizard probably won’t be pitching up at the Parc.

"Paris is not for now,” he told L’Equipe. “Paris is magical, of course it attracts me. But for now I do not want to go to a rival club of Lille.”

Not the most categorical brush-off I've ever heard, and it will be interesting to see whether he maintains his position should a large pile of Qatari cash be plonked in front of him. Hazard goes on to say that he'll make a decision at the end of the season, stay tuned folks.

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