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PSG fluff chance to claim Ligue 1 title with draw against lowly Le Havre

REUTERS - Gonzalo Fuentes

Pacesetters Paris Saint-Germain botched their opportunity to claim a record 12th Ligue 1 crown in front of their fans on Saturday night with a 3-3 draw against relegation-threatened Le Havre.

The faithful at least heartily applauded the players at the end of the game for battling from 3-1 down to reach parity at a rain-swept Parc des Princes.

With Wednesday's trip to Dortmund for the Champions League semi-final in mind, PSG boss Luis Enrique kept goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma and strikers Kylian Mbappé and Gonçalo Ramos on the bench.

But his team still boasted seasoned operators. Skipper Marquinhos was in the starting line-up to anchor the defence with Danilo. Vitinha and Warren Zaire-Emery were deployed in midfield to pull the strings.

And the duo duly provided the platform for the early domination. But it failed to yield any clear chances.

In the 19th minute, the hosts paid the price for their lack of incision. On a rare venture into PSG territory, the visitors took the lead.

Emmanuel Sabbi surged down the right and passed to the unmarked Christopher Operi who slotted the ball elegantly past the PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas into the net.

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The advantage lasted only 10 minutes. Ousmane Dembélé's trickery down the right opened up space for Zaire-Emery and the teenager slid a pass across the face of the goal for Bradley Barcola to tap in.

A PSG onslaught seemed imminent.

The ploy appeared to be working as Achraf Hakimi and Mbappé went close to levelling.


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