PSV’s hard work is rewarded with a 1-1 draw away against Paris Saint Germain

A weakened PSV team fought their way to a respectable 1-1 draw away against Paris Saint Germain in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night. The French team had the most chances but were held back until the second half when Achraf Hakimi scored to cancel out Noa Lang’s opener.

PSV was missing two of their most important midfielders, with Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman out injured. This resulted in a midfield of Malik Tillman, Ismael Saibari, and Guus Til.

PSG had their first big chance of the match in the 10th minute when Bradley Barcola controlled a long ball before running to the PSV goal. Luckily for PSV, his side-footed effort went wide of the goal.

The next significant chance for the home side came ten minutes later. Full-back Nuno Mendes found Ousmane Dembele in the box with a cross, but Dembele failed to convert the chance as his side-footed effort hit the crossbar.

Dembele has struggled with finishing in the past, and it was apparent again nine minutes later as he missed yet another big opportunity. This time, he was one one-on-one in behind the defense, but his volley went far over the goal.

Despite the home team’s dominance, PSV took the lead in the 34th minute. A pass by Joao Neves was intercepted by Olivier Boscagli before the ball found its way to Noa Lang, who cut inside before driving a shot into the near corner, giving Gianluigi Donnarumma no chance in the PSG goal.

PSG equalized in the 55th minute. A short corner was passed around before it found its way to Achraf Hakimi, whose shot went through the legs of Walter Benitez in what can be considered some poor goalkeeping from the Argentinian.

Although the home team was piling on the pressure, it was PSV who should have re-taken the lead on the hour mark. Luuk de Jong won the ball in the air before Til beat the PSG defender to the ball, leading to a two-on-one situation with him and Lang. But the midfielder took too long to decide what to do, and his pass was eventually intercepted by PSG captain Marquinhos.

The home side was initially awarded a penalty in the third minute of injury time as the referee, Glenn Nyberg from Sweden, thought that Boscagli had fouled Marco Asensio in the penalty area. However, the decision was reversed when Nyberg watched the incident back on the screen.

Benitez made up for his earlier error with a hugely important save to stop Marquinhos’ header with one minute left to play.

PSV are still winless in the Champions League this season despite the draw. They are currently in 27th position in the 36-team league. They have a huge opportunity to get their first win when they face Girona at home in two weeks. PSG are currently in 17th position.