Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United drew 1-1 on Tuesday in the Champions League, thanks to a penalty kick by Kylian Mbappe in the 98th minute. The result keeps the French team in the running to advance to the round of 16 and puts its opponents in grave danger of losing in the group stage.
Alexander Isak’s goal in the 25th minute of the Group F match appeared to be enough to send Newcastle—which defeated Paris 4-1 when the teams met at St. James’ Park last month—to the win.
When the VAR awarded PSG a chance to save a draw in injury time by ruling that Tino Livramento’s handball in the box warranted a penalty, PSG had already run out of options.
Mbappe made no mistakes, and PSG is now in second position in the group behind Borussia Dortmund, who defeated AC Milan 3-1 on the road and advanced to the round of sixteen.
The French champions will join them if they triumph in Dortmund in their last group match, while Newcastle must now defeat Milan at home and hope that PSG makes a mistake.
The penalty was deemed “a poor decision,” according to Newcastle manager Eddie Howe.
You can see how little time is left in the game at that point, which is quite upsetting for us, but there is currently nothing we can do about it.
A loss would have eliminated Howe’s team, so at least they are still in the running. Meanwhile, PSG is able to stave off the possibility of suffering their first Champions League elimination before to the round of sixteen in the Qatar era by avoiding a third straight loss in five group games.
“There’s no doubt that we should have won. We gave a really comprehensive performance, in my opinion,” PSG head coach Luis Enrique remarked.
“That’s football, but we were better than Newcastle,” he continued, denying that he had witnessed the pivotal penalty incident.
“I don’t spend my time analyzing VAR rulings. My entire focus is on making my team better.
In the past ten years, PSG has never performed as well in the Champions League as they did this year. However, Mbappe’s late goal, his 17th of the year, was enough to rescue them from the penalty spot.
With Marquinhos out of the game, Mbappe, donning the captain’s armband, frequently found himself pressed between Newcastle defenders Kieran Trippier and Jamaal Lascelles, making it difficult for him to make an influence on the match.
After PSG came dangerously close to taking the lead in the first nine minutes, the visitors set up to frustrate the hosts, and for the most part, it worked.
Randal Kolo Muani and Achraf Hakimi connected down the Paris right before the latter drove into the box and set up Mbappe for a low center that Nick Pope stopped with his backheeled attempt. Isak initiates the scoring
PSG was not helped by Gianluigi Donnarumma, their Italian goalkeeper, who continued his troubling trend of subpar play.
In the twelfth minute, Hakimi’s careless pass resulted in him losing control, which gave Miguel Almiron the opportunity to cross and give Isak the first caution of the game.
Then, with Livramento running unopposed across the edge of the box to set up Almiron for a shot that Donnarumma could only deflect out to the thankful feet of Isak, the Premier League side took the lead.
After that, Newcastle showed why, along with champions Manchester City, it had the second-best defense in England the previous season by staying back and denying Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, and Kolo Muani the space they so desperately needed.
Though Mbappe set up Dembele for a blocked attempt in first-half stoppage time, and the latter was stopped by Pope diving at his feet immediately after the restart, PSG also wasted opportunities.
After Mbappe set him up, Pope made an incredible save in the 66th minute to deny Bradley Barcola, the substitute.
After Anthony Gordon knocked Hakimi off balance, PSG vehemently pleaded for a penalty. However, a VAR check determined there was no need for a spot kick, and a handball allegation against Lewis Miley, a youngster, was also rejected shortly after.
Newcastle’s resilience was ultimately broken when the Polish VAR official brought referee Szymon Marciniak across to the monitor to investigate a possible handball by Livramento. Pope had previously saved from Mbappe in the 87th minute.
Although the decision was severe, Mbappe seized the opportunity to tie the score.
