PSG without Neymar, Mbappe held 4-4 by lowly Amiens

Relegation-haunted Amiens had been on course for a shock win when they surged into a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes befo
15 Feb, 2020
  • Relegation-haunted Amiens had been on course for a shock win when they surged into a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes before the French champions clawed their way back to lead 4-3 on the back of Tanguy Kouassi becoming PSG's youngest scorer in 44 years.

AMIENS: Amiens' Serhou Guirassy scored an injury time equaliser on Saturday to secure a roller-coaster 4-4 draw with a Paris Saint-Germain side without Neymar and Kylian Mbappe ahead of next week's Champions League last 16 tie at Borussia Dortmund.

Relegation-haunted Amiens had been on course for a shock win when they surged into a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes before the French champions clawed their way back to lead 4-3 on the back of Tanguy Kouassi becoming PSG's youngest scorer in 44 years.

Brazil forward Neymar has been sidelined since February 1 with a rib injury while France World Cup winner Mbappe was rested ahead of Tuesday's trip to Germany.

PSG coach Thomas Tuchel said the world's most expensive player remained a doubt for the first leg tie.

"For Tuesday I don't know. I have to wait until tomorrow's training session," Tuchel told broadcaster Canal+.

"Everybody's talking about the match so for that we can feel it's in our heads and we have been a little bit distracted by it.

"We showed a reaction, our quality, and our mentality was really good, we deserved to win," he added.

PSG move 13 points clear of second-place Marseille while the home side remain in the relegation zone and without a league win since November 2.

The hosts' boss Luka Elsner made two changes to his side from last Saturday's loss to Monaco as Haitam Aleesami and Bongani Zungu started instead of the suspended Thomas Monconduit and Bakaye Dibassy.

- Amiens early blitz -

Former French youth international Guirassy opened the scoring after nine minutes before ex-Chelsea midfielder Gael Kakuta doubled the lead 20 minutes later.

Fousseni Diabate, on-loan from Leicester City, made it 3-0 on the 40-minute mark after his low effort was deflected by PSG captain Thiago Silva.

Midfielder Ander Herrera cut the league strugglers' lead seconds before half-time with a side-footed volley.

Tuchel made two changes at the break with Marco Veratti and Marquinhos replacing Idrissa Gueye and Silva.

Teenager Tanguy Kouassi scored his first senior goal after an hour from a Julian Draxler header to become PSG's youngest goal scorer since Lionel Justier in 1976.

The 17-year-old holding midfielder, who remains on an academy contract with the Parisians, equalised five minutes later from an Angel Di Maria as PSG pushed on.

The visitors thought they had completed a huge comeback as Juan Bernat found Mauro Icardi at the back-post and the on-loan forward hit his 19th goal of the season.

But after one minute of injury time, Guirassy was fed by winger Quentin Cornette to equalise for his eighth effort of the campaign.

On Sunday, second-placed Marseille head to Lille in fourth.

On Friday, attacker Islam Slimani claimed a 1-0 victory for Monaco at Montpellier.

 

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