Paris Saint-Germain continued their dominance of Ligue 1 by defeating St Etienne on Saturday afternoon, but they suffered as well as Neymar had to be stretchered off.
Fresh from their defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League in mid week, Mauricio Pochettino brought Angel di Maria into the team to play alongside Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, who were criticised for their performances against City.
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Another change saw Sergio Ramos finally make his debut for the French giants, after signing for free from Real Madrid in the summer.
Whilst one superstar returned from injury, it was the loss of another late in the game that might worry Pochettino, especially if it's a long term problem.
With just a few minutes left of the game, he Brazil forward was challenged by Yvann Macon, who came from behind, and went over on his ankle and had to be stretchered off.
Pochettino's side were easily favourites ahead of the game and thought they gone ahead early on through Di Maria, only for the goal to be ruled out by VAR for offside.
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In the 23rd minute it was the hosts turn to have a goal disallowed, as the assistant referee raised his flag after Denis Bouanga had put the ball in the net.
VAR once again intervened, this time to allow the goal, and St Etienne looked to be heading into half time with a surprise lead.
The game changed in the 45th minute however, as centre back Timothee Kolodziejczak was sent off, with the break looming, for a lunge on Mbappe.
Poch's side instantly made their numbers advantage count, as Marquinhos equalised from Messi's subsequent free kick from the red.
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Claude Puel's team did well to keep things level until the 79th minute, when Messi once again got the assist, as Di Maria finally put his side ahead.
Marquinhos wrapped up the scoring in injury time, thanks to Messi's third assist of the day, but Neymar's injury could overshadow everything.
Featured Image Credit: BT SportTopics:ย Neymar, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1
