PSG hopes to reverse its recent fortunes as the Ligue 1 leaders host relegation threatened Lorient in the French top flight.
The Parisians have fallen apart since the Champions League exit to Real Madrid, with a 3-0 thrashing by Monaco last time out painted as a further referendum on the team’s dysfunction. While victory over the 16th placed side would hardly quiet the noise, any more dropped points against lesser sides would only further to heighten the tension around a team in disarray.
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in particular has been at the forefront of PSG’s struggles, but he may get another shot as Keylor Navas does not appear in the squad after suffering an injury while on international duty against the United States.
Lionel Messi has also been heavily criticized, with the Argentine failing to bring his usual attacking third presence with him in his first season in Paris. Messi has not integrated well into the star-studded PSG side, struggling to share the spotlight with other world-class players in the squad. Neymar, finally back from a long-term ankle injury, has also struggled to recreate his former attacking presence.
This has left all the heavy lifting to Kylian Mbappe, who was able to push the side over the line in the Champions League first leg matchup against Real Madrid, but has been unable to recreate that magic since.
MORE: Full 2022 World Cup schedule with Argentina drawn into Group C
Sporting News will be following the match live and providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
PSG vs. Lorient live score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| PSG | 2 | 2 | – |
| FC Lorient | 0 | 1 | – |
Goals:
13th min — PSG — Neymar
28th min — PSG — Kylian Mbappe
56th min — LOR — Terem Moffi
67th min — PSG — Kylian Mbappe
73rd min — PSG — Lionel Messi
(All times Eastern)
76th min: CHANCE, PSG! Messi wins the ball back in the midfield, and Nuno goes down in the penalty area under what seemed on first glance to be heavy contact. Referee waves the penalty shout away, and on second look there wasn’t as much contact as first believed. VAR has a look but waves it away.
Lorient empties the bench with two more substitutions, bringing on Armand Lauriente and Quentin Boisgard for Dango Ouattara and Terem Moffi, two like-for-like attacking swaps.
73rd min: GOAL! PSG! This one provided some nerves for a bit, but now it’s over. Mbappe weaves through midfield and gets it back from Nuno, sliding all the way to the end line before delivering a stunning feed to Lionel Messi essentially on the penalty spot, and the Argentine can’t miss from there, slamming it off the underside of the crossbar.
No surprise that Mbappe did all the heavy lifting, and nice to see Lionel Messi get back on the scoresheet, something he’s struggled to do this season at the club level.
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) April 3, 2022
Neymar, Messi and Mbappe all on the scoresheet for PSG. 😎 #PSGLORIENT #Ligue1
— Bolarinwa Olajide (@iambolar) April 3, 2022
72nd min: That will be Marquinhos’s final contribution as he comes off in favor of Sergio Ramos, who sees his first minutes in months.
71st min: CHANCE, Lorient! An absolutely horrific free-kick from Neymar springs a Lorient break, and it comes very close to producing an end product. The first effort by Ouattara was saved well by Donnarumma who parried, and then a follow-up shot is nearly delivered by Le Fee but Marquinhos comes in with a heroic sliding block at the last second.
67th min: GOAL! PSG! It feels at times like Kylian Mbappe is carrying this team entirely on his shoulders. Hakimi, atoning for his previous mistake, picks a Lorient pocket in the attacking third and feeds Mbappe, and the Frenchman does the rest. He skips past one challenger in Julien Laporte and switches the ball onto his right at the top of the area, firing a low effort into the back of the net.
For all of PSG’s mistakes, Mbappe continues to drag the rest of the squad forward.
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) April 3, 2022
61st min: The
Le calme avant… le calme ? Pour rappel les Ultras ont prévu de rester silencieux ce soir. Coup d'envoi à 20h45. #PSGFCL pic.twitter.com/urNEPwLmvZ — Le Parisien | PSG (@le_Parisien_PSG) April 3, 2022 ” target=”_blank”>PSG ultras promised
57th min: It’s all coming apart for PSG now. Presnel Kimpembe gets a yellow for a very bad challenge on Abergel, late to a clear and instead kicking Abergel right in the leg.
56th min: GOAL! Lorient! PSG has made a significant amount of mistakes since the second-half restart, and this time it costs them! An awful back-pass from the right-back Hakimi to Marquinhos is too far out of reach for the Brazilian, and Terem Moffi pounces with the tap-in past Donnarumma. It’s an awful mistake by PSG, and Lorient now has a chance.
⚽️ ¡GOOOOOL!
Terem Moffi descuenta para el Lorient@PSG_espanol 2-1 @FCLorient 🇫🇷⤵️ pic.twitter.com/elvR7WHJkR— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) April 3, 2022
⚽ PSG 2-1 #Lorient
PSG have been absolutely abysmal at the start of the second half. Loose pass from Hakimi gifts #Moffi a reply.
Not the first sloppy mistake in the second half.#PSGFCL
— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) April 3, 2022
53rd min: Lorient has looked more intentional this half, and PSG has made some mistakes. Gueye loses the ball to Lorient captain Laurent Abergel and then commits a soft foul, earning him a yellow card and giving Lorient a great free-kick straightaway at the top of the penalty area. It’s taken by Le Fee and blasted straight into the wall.
49th min: CHANCE, Lorient! A very poor and heavy touch by Marquinhos in his own penalty area results in a bad turnover, but Enzo Le Fee puts his shot wide. It was a very good chance for the visitors to get one back, and it’s wasteful by Lorient, who should be back to within a goal.
46th min: Second half is under way. No changes for either side. Just the one substitute so far used by either team, necessitated for PSG thanks to the Paredes injury.
HALFTIME: PSG 2-0 Lorient
The hosts have been fantastic in this opening half, and it proved costly for Lorient. Neymar hit for the opener and Kylian Mbappe picked up the second.
PSG is, at least for this game against the 16th-placed Ligue 1 side, back to its world-class best.
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) April 3, 2022
45+2 min: Lorient’s Mendes crunches Mbappe to the ground, and while he argues the call, it’s clearly a foul and gives PSG a chance for a set-piece from a very good area. Messi leaves the free-kick for Neymar who aims for the far post but it’s saved by Dreyer, and there’s no time for the corner as the halftime whistle blows.
39th min: The first player into the book is Lorient striker Ibrahima Kone who, after the visitors lost the ball at the top of the PSG box, stuck a foot out and inadvertently trodded on the foot of a PSG defender.
Moments later Monconduit steps on the foot of Leandro Paredes. Oddly, Paredes gets up and gestures to the sideline for a replacement, but it’s his groin that’s clearly troubling him. PSG may be forced into an early change, already with a depleted midfield thanks to the absence of Marco Verratti. Paredes, who played in both games for Argentina over the international break, is replaced by Georginio Wijnaldum.
37th min: PSG again attacks down the left through Mbappe, and while Achraf Hakimi put the ball just over the bar, the flag was up on Mbappe in the buildup anyways. Lorient has had hardly a sniff of the ball in the attacking half.
31st min: Nuno again with a critical, goal-saving tackle as he comes in with precision and dispossesses Dango Ouattara who was through on goal inside the top of the penalty area.
28th min: GOAL! PSG! PSG is firing on all cylinders and gets a second. Parades wins the ball at the top fo the attacking third and the hosts attack with indefensible speed. Idrissa Gueye feeds Kylian Mbappe on the left, and despite Lionel Messi waiting in the middle, Mbappe takes it himself and Dreyer is rooted to the spot.
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) April 3, 2022
27th min: CHANCE, PSG! Oh my goodness, Neymar sent in a wonderful cross to Lionel Messi streaking one-on-one towards the goal mouth, and the Argentine nearly one-timed it into the back of the net with a vintage Messi touch. Instead, the ball flashed just over the crossbar, and all fans can take from that moment is a flashback to his Barcelona days when he was in historic form.
¡MESSI CASI MARCA UN GOLAZO! 🐐 🤩
Sublime pase de Neymar, pero el argentino envió el balón por encima del horizontal 👀
🍿 Sigue el PSG vs. Lorient en vivo por beIN SPORTS Ñ.#PSGFCL 🇫🇷 #Ligue1 pic.twitter.com/Mo1TgZIdBI
— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) April 3, 2022
22nd min: Nuno Mendes tracks back to make a great challenge with Lorient on the break. The Brazilian has developed into such a weapon on both ends of play, one of the world’s best full-backs.
17th min: Since the early Lorient pressure, it’s been all PSG and the Parc des Prince crowd has been behind its side. Mbappe gets a feed near the penalty spot but a nice tackle by Thomas Monconduit sees him dispossessed before a shot. A bit of a heavy touch let the World Cup winner down.
13th min: GOAL! PSG! A beautiful buildup right down the center left 16th-place Lorient with no chance. Leandro Paredes with a cutting vertical ball to Neymar unlocks the opponent, and Neymar plays a one-two with Mbappe, eventually getting the ball back free on goal and easily slots it home. Where was that the last few weeks?
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) April 3, 2022
⚽ #PSG 1-0 Lorient.
Messi feeds Mbappe, who does much of the hard work to set up #Neymar.
Emphatic finish from the Brazilian and terrific play from the forward three.
— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) April 3, 2022
10th min: Neymar goes full speed into Houboulang Mendes in what seemed to be retaliation for an uncalled foul moments earlier. The Brazilian throws a full hip into Mendes right where the effects mic must be located, because the hit could be heard loudly over the broadcast. Crunch. No yellow card given, surprisingly.
4th min: CHANCE, PSG! The first shot of the match comes via Kylian Mbappe on a stunning run down the left flank, doing it himself as he has so many times this season. His eventual shot from a tight angle is saved by Matthieu Dryer.
— beIN SPORTS Español (@ESbeINSPORTS) April 3, 2022
3rd min: Lorient is the more aggressive team early, pressing forward a number of times, but the PSG defense snuffs out each opportunity before a shot. Gianluigi Donnarumma comes wayyyyy off his line to come out and make a wonderful tackle outside his penalty area.
1st min: Kickoff! Lionel Messi has a lot to prove even if the team doesn’t have much physically to play for besides maintaining its significant lead atop the Ligue 1 table.
2:31 p.m.: The home fans are taking a while to arrive, and understandably so with the team struggling of late and little to play for at this point in the season.
PSG vs. Lorient ⚽️ #PSGFCL pic.twitter.com/x5jQQFf8n0
— Jonathan Johnson (@Jon_LeGossip) April 3, 2022
1:48 p.m.: Lineups are in, and as expected for PSG, the big trio of Mbappe, Neymar, Messi starts, and behind them it’s Paredes, Gueye, and Danilo in midfield with Marco Verratti out.
12:56 p.m.: FC Lorient celebrated the club’s 96th birthday yesterday. Can they secure a late birthday present in Paris?
The only time these clubs met on Lorient’s birthday, they played to a 0-0 draw on April 2, 2011. The visitors would absolutely take that today!
C’est notre anniversaire aujourd’hui ☺️
9⃣6⃣ 𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗱’𝗲́𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 ! 🧡 pic.twitter.com/vTNRsaI9Ib— FC LORIENT 🐟 (@FCLorient) April 2, 2022
12:45 p.m.: It looks cold in France! PSG got ready for today’s match with an early morning training session.
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) April 3, 2022
PSG vs. Lorient lineups
PSG has a number of injury issues stemming from March international duty. The biggest miss is goalkeeper Keylor Navas who departed Costa Rica’s final match against the United States with an adductor injury and was not included in today’s squad. That leaves Gianluigi Donnarumma to continue in goal, despite his recent struggles.
Marco Verratti, who was excellent for Italy despite the shock loss to North Macedonia, has also picked up a hamstring problem on international duty and does not appear in the squad.
Ander Herrera, despite appearing in PSG’s matchday training, was not included in the squad either thanks to a hamstring injury. Angel Di Maria will not take part after picking up a muscle injury on duty with Argentina, but Sergio Ramos returns to the squad after two months on the sidelines, but he will likely need some time off the bench before spelling Marquinhos who played the full 90 minutes in both of Brazil’s World Cup qualifiers.
MORE: Can Messi win the 2022 World Cup?
PSG starting lineup (4-3-3): Donnarumma (GK) — Hakimi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Mendes – Pereira, Paredes, Gueye – Neymar, Mbappe, Messi.
PSG subs (8): Michut (GK), Dagba, Ramos, Kehrer, Wijnaldum, Simons, Ebimbe, Icardi.
For Lorient, midfield anchor Bonke Innocent is suspended due to yellow card accumulation, giving him time to recover from an injury he picked up on international duty with Nigeria. Fabien Lemoine could come in as a replacement if recovered from his own calf injury, but Enzo Le Fee and Quentin Boisgard are both options as well.
Armaund Lauriente is a regular in the attack for Lorient but was replaced on the left by Burkina Faso international Abou Ouattara.
To help deal with the beefy PSG attack, there was speculation Lorient would deploy a five-back system, but instead they choose a more traditional 4-5-1.
FC Lorient starting lineup (4-3-3): Dreyer (GK) — Le Goff, Laporte, Petrot, Mendes — Abergel, Monconduit, Le Fee — Moffi, Kone, Ouattara.
FC Lorient subs (8): Jens (GK), Lauriente, Soumano, Lemoine, Boisgard, Carioca, Morel, Hergault.
How to watch PSG vs. Lorient
- Date: Sunday, April 3
- Time: 2:45 p.m. ET
- TV Channel: BeIN Sports
- Streaming: fuboTV
Sunday’s Ligue 1 match between PSG and Lorient can be watched on BeIN Sports in the USA, and can be streamed on fuboTV, which new users can access via a free trial.
PSG-Lorient betting lines & odds
Despite the dip in form, PSG is still massive favorites in this match against a relegation candidate.
Lorient, sitting 16th in the table just a point above the drop, has not won at Parc des Princes since 2011, but there are signs that this match could be closer than advertised.
The visitors suffered a 12-match losing streak against PSG in all competition between 2013 and 2020, but in their last two meetings, Lorient has collected four points, winning at home last January before a December draw in this season’s reverse fixture. In addition, Lorient has turned around its league form, with wins over Clermont Foot and Brest over its last three matches.
- Moneyline: PSG -575 / Draw +700 / Lorient +1500
- Spread: PSG -2 (-120) / Lorient +2 (+105)
- O/U 3.5 total goals: Over -110 / Under -110
- Both teams to score: Yes -110 / No -115
