93rd-Minute Di Maria Goal Salavages UCL Draw for PSG

Jürgen Klopp and his crew at Liverpool surely enjoyed this.

That feisty bunch from Naples had already bit them in the butt, and they damn near did it to Paris St-Germain.

At the Parc des Princes.

The Italian side's known both as Partenopei Gli Azzurri (The Blues) and I Ciucciarelli (The Little Donkeys). If they keep their current level of play up, maybe they should add I Guerrieri Della Strada.

The Road Warriors.

 

In comparison to virtually every traditional club in Europe, PSG's a relative newcomer.

Frankly, the main reason they're now mentioned in the same breath is Gulf money, which has been splashed around in liberal amounts.

Sometimes, dudes get results in matches where they should, and other times ...

 

There. It's been said.

In this Champions League Group C clash, the French side knew it'd be a tough mission against Napoli, a team aware of their own limits but who play with their hearts.

The first quarter-hour was spent with both drawing the measure of each other, and by the 20th minute, Napoli had seen what they wanted. They began a blitz on the PSG defense, and a goal seemed to be just a matter of time.

 

In the 29th, the Italians broke the deadlock.

José Callejón picked Lorenzo Insigne up with a nifty pass as the Italian striker dashed faster than the home side's defense and looped the ball over Alphonse Areola:

 

All the while, PSG’s front three seemed nonexistent, and Thomas Tuchel probably blistered paint off the locker room walls at the break.

Disappointingly, Napoli looked like they'd spend the second half playing to secure the minimal advantage. However, those plans went the way of the dodo bird about 15 minutes later.

In the 60th minute, Thomas Meunier received the ball on the right-wing and attempted a cross to Edinson Cavani. However, Mario Rui’s clearance attempt ended up as an own goal:

 

Nevertheless, Italian side rallied to take the lead once again.

Fabián Ruiz unloaded from distance. It deflected off Marquinhos, and Dries Mertens was in the right place at the right time to usher the orb past Areola:

 

Just as another dynamic victory seemed to beckon, stoppage time offered up a harsh surprise.

Three minutes into it, substitute Julian Draxler gave it to Angel di Maria on the edge of the box. The Argentine rescued a precious point with a side-footed effort straight to the far top corner:

 

A narrow and somewhat humiliating escape for the JT Gotrocks of French football.

The beneficiary for the moment is the 'Pool:

For the moment.