UEFA Europa League – Full time review: Paris Saint Germain versus Borussia Dortmund
In the 14th minute of the match, PSG had their first chance to open the scoring as Nene took the free kick which caused Dortmund’s goalie quite a lot of problem before eventually gathering control of the ball. Dortmund’s
first exquisite move came at the 15th minute mark as their midfielders played a delightful one-two amongst themselves but the attack eventually broke down due to some organized defending by the home side. The atmosphere at Parc de Princes
stadium was absolutely ear splitting as PSG’s home support were at their loudest throughout the first half of the match.
PSG’s best chance to take the lead came in the 17th minute as their forward Erding miss directed his header over the cross bar even though he was clean through on goal without any tight marking around him. In the
21st minute of the match, PSG’s Luyindula became the first man to go into the referee’s book for his protests against the official’s decision to award a free kick to Dortmund inside their own half. Most of PSG’s attacks came through
their wingers which provided them width that allowed them to stretch Borussia’s defensive line.
This created space for the likes of Nene and Erding. In doing so, PSG controlled most of the possession in the first half of the match but Borussia did look dangerous every time they broke forward in attack. In the 30th minute
of the match, the ball fell to Bodmer for PSG just outside Dortmund’s penalty area. The ex-Lyon player unleashed a powerful shot but the drive was fantastically blocked by the German club’s defence.
In the 31st minute, PSG had another clear cut chance to get the opening goal as their forward Erding was played in by Luyindula but the centre forward failed to display his prolific streak as his shot went wide
of the target in the end. With the shot off target, it was a disappointing finish to an attractive move for the home side. Paris Saint Germain had a good succession of corner kicks toward the end of the first half but they failed to make the set pieces count
as most of them were headed away in an effective manner by the Borussia Dortmund defence. The first half ended with both the teams all level with the score line of nil all.
The second half began with Dortmund on the front foot as in the 48th minute; they had their first chance of the second half from around 20 yards out as Gotze tried his luck on PSG’s goal. However, the midfielder’s
shot was way off target as the referee pointed towards a goal kick for the home side. At the 50th minute mark, Erding wasted another easy opportunity to give PSG the lead. Despite being clean through on goal with only the goalkeeper
to beat, his show was blocked by Weidenfeller as the referee awarded the French side a corner kick.
In the 55th minute, Gotze’s marvelous run opened up room for Barrios to score for Borussia but the midfielders shot was wide of the mark as PSG were off the hook yet again. In the 58thminute of the match,
Bodmer was shown the yellow card by the referee for his rash challenge on Nene from the PSG side. In the 65th minute, Erding had another wonderful chance to score for PSG but yet again it was the Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper who kept
his side in the game.
At the 66th minute mark, Nene was substituted in place of Jallet. In the 71st minute of the match, Dortmund almost broke the deadlock with Kagawa’s strike but the Japanese midfielder’s shot
was saved acrobatically by Edel, the PSG goalkeeper. Despite having several late chances to win the game, Dortmund failed to make their opportunities count as the match eventually ended in a goalless draw at the Parc de Prince Stadium in Paris.
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