Questions for Abriel and PSG after Lyon defeat sees them slip to third
Paris Saint-Germain's difficult season takes another turn after 2-0 loss to Lyon
Lyon reaffirmed their uncontested dominance in French football on Saturday night, sweeping aside a feeble PSG team in front of 20,489 fans, a record attendance for a Première Ligue game in the Parc des Princes. Lyon cruised to victory thanks to two first-half goals from Melchie Dumornay and Kadidiatou Diani.
Going into the title clash, PSG were five points and two places behind league-leaders Lyon, having been leap-frogged in the standings by Paris FC a few hours before kick off.
More than the result, the uninspired performance will place PSG head coach Fabrice Abriel under more scrutiny. His tenure has so far been marked by poor defensive tactics in high-pressure games and a sputtering attack. The first-year head coach has been facing questions from within and outside his camp.
It all started in the off-season. Key players departed including Sandy Baltimore, who joined Chelsea, and Tabitha Chawinga, the team’s leading goalscorer and recipient of last season’s golden boot, who, like so many PSG players of the past, went to Lyon. England goalkeeper Mary Earps and former ACC Defender of the Year Eva Gaetino were the biggest arrivals.
The season did not get off to a good start, with Les Parisiennes eliminated from the UWCL in the qualifying rounds in September. In PSG’s second leg defeat to Juventus, when the team needed to overturn a first-leg deficit of 3-1, Abriel took a low risk approach to the game, surprisingly fielding a back five. PSG ultimately lost 5-2 on aggregate.
Domestic results have also taken a downturn. In PSG’s last league match before facing Lyon, they suffered a disappointing scoreless draw against Fleury despite boasting 66% possession and posting 13 shots, six of them on target. PSG also drew 1-1 with crosstown rivals Paris FC in December. With PSG now sitting one point behind Paris FC, that draw takes on even more significance.
In the 2024-25 season so far, PSG have scored only 29 goals, compared to Paris FC’s 42 and Lyon’s 54. The Parisian club has been unable to replace Chawinga’s goal-scoring contributions and counter-attacking threat. The signing of Romee Leuchter in July was promising, but she has yet to forge a productive connection with the team’s leading scorer Marie-Antoinette Katoto. If the team hopes to remain competitive in Europe, they will need to bolster their attacking and midfield corps.
Additionally, rumours have also been swirling of discontent within the Paris camp. Abriel lost favour with French international Grace Geyoro during pre-season when he stripped her of the captaincy, despite assurances to the contrary seemingly having been made during her contract negotiations. Their relationship soured after that, leading to a public falling-out and Geyoro’s exclusion from the squad for the game against Dijon. Though Geyoro and Abriel seem to have reached an understanding in the new year, a poor run of performances could turn the locker room against the coach.
There have also been reports that star striker Katoto, disappointed with results and what she has described as a “heavy atmosphere,” will not be renewing her contract, which is set to expire this summer. Lyon, whose game day roster Saturday night included no fewer than four former PSG players, including Katoto’s close friend Diani, are rumored to be in the mix.
On Saturday night, PSG produced little in the way of offensive or attacking momentum, only managing one shot on target all game. Les Parisiennes initially responded well to going down a goal, but had no answer for Lyon’s midfield and speedy forward line. Abriel rolled out a back three of Paulina Dudek, Elisa de Almeida, and Gaetino, a gamble that placed the young defender directly in the path of reigning Chawinga. The fleet-footed Malawi international feasted on the matchup, her movement off the backline pulling Gaetino out of position and her incisive runs, frequently served by Lindsey Horan, leaving the centre-back chasing shadows.
Turnovers were a big problem for Les Parisiennes, whose inability to clear their lines led to both Lyon goals. First, Chawinga slipped past Gaetino and laid a ball across the face of the PSG goal. Karchaoui shanked her clearance into the path of Melchie Dumornay, who didn’t have to break stride to deflect the ball into the back of the net.
Sloppy clearances out of the back also resulted in Lyon’s second goal. In the 32nd minute, Horan intercepted Gaetino’s deflected clearance and chipped it to Dumornay. The Haiti international unselfishly found Diani open in the box for the tap-in.
PSG consistently struggled to relieve Lyon’s pressure. Sakina Karchaoui, typically the team’s most dynamic player, whose quickness on both sides of the ball could typically be relied on to open up stodgy performances, was effectively neutralized by Ellie Carpenter, the Australian’s speed allowing Lyon to spring counter-attacks in the rare moments PSG pushed forward.
The lop-sided performance exposed PSG’s lack of depth. Down by two, in the 68th minute, Abriel swapped wide defender Jade Le Guilly for Joe Echegini, who slotted in midfield. Despite the substitution making little impact, it remained the only one until the 90th minute. After the match, Abriel seemed to evoke a lack of confidence within the squad, saying: “Maybe we weren’t ambitious enough to score that goal that would have let us shake the other team in the second half.” Without realising it, he may have put his finger on the source of PSG’s ills. From signings to tactical set-up, a lack of ambition may end up being the takeaway from Abriel’s first season.
The result leaves PSG on the wrong end of an eight-point deficit with no hope of overtaking Lyon without the European giants dropping multiple games to lower-ranked teams. Worse still, dropping out of the top two threatens even PSG’s status as the French league’s perpetual ‘bridesmaid’. The long-hoped for parity in the top-heavy Première Ligue seems to have materialised - as a scramble for second-best to Lyon.
The poor performance Saturday night will put Abriel in the hot seat, but losing to Lyon isn’t out of the ordinary for a PSG coach. In spite of the poor performances and growing player discontent, lifting the Coupe de France and reclaiming second from Paris FC may be enough to earn him a second season.