Neymar and Paris Saint-Germain were able to bring the point of the San Paolo hell draw to Naples last night on a score of 1-1. A rather satisfactory result on the outside for the Parisians even if the case Neymar is still talking the day after a performance in half-tone.
Neymar did everything in the first period ...
Like his team, Neymar had a very good first half against Napoli. Very quickly returned in their match, the Parisians and Neymar immediately tried to propose the game while defending en bloc against Neapolitan attacks.
In the 7th minute, Neymar found Verratti in the box for the first thrill of the match and a shot that was finally diverted. Lightning dribbling, unpredictable ball catch and a blatant (sometimes forced) connection with Kylian Mbappé put the defense of Naples on hold for 45 minutes.
The Brazilian could even open the scoring in the 18th minute on a solitary raid which he has the secret but was finally caught in extremis by Mario Rui. Five minutes later, he offered a caviar to Kylian Mbappe from the midfield that the young French striker could not achieve despite a good recovery.
And what about this distilled ball to Mbappé (again) that brings the goal of Bernat just before the break. A model of vista and spontaneity that reminds us that the Brazilian is unique and can alone change the course of a match.
... before going out of the game little by little
The second act was marked by fifteen unbearable first minutes for the Parisians who were logically joined in the 62nd minute on a penalty Lorenzo Insigne.
During the beginning of the second act, Neymar did not float and in the image of his team he was completely weaned of balloons. But after the equalization, he chained the wrong choices and constantly sought the personal solution.
The Neymar of the bad days was put in spectacle, useless dribbles, teammates demarcated ignored, incessant protests marked the second period of the "Ney". In a moment when the Parisians would have needed their Brazilian genius to smooth the game or create excess, the Paris striker had the opposite effect and more annihilated than fructified opportunities.
The yellow card he received late in the game completely summarizes his work on the second act. Indeed, Mr. Kuipers ended up punishing the Brazilian's protests even if, in his defense, the man in yellow made some dubious decisions in the match that somewhat upset the players Tuchel. But that's a different story.