We asked ‘Matt Busby said to Joe Harvey’ to give us his match ratings and player commentary after PSG 1 Newcastle 1.
Nick Pope – 8
A great save to deny Dembélé from the penalty spot, before saving again from the Ballon d’or winner shortly after Vitinha had opened the scoring.
Made a series of other saves in the opening games of this Champions League match and exuded confidence.
Dan Burn – 8
Great to see BDB back in the starting line-up.
Brilliant assist for Willock’s equalizer and a calming influence.
You would never have known that he had punctured his lung in late November but was hopelessly out of position when PSG broke through to open the scoring.
Malick Thiaw – 8
Another solid performance from the German as our defense looked unflappable after weathering the first storm.
Sven Botman – 8
The same goes for our Dutch center half, who looked very successful throughout.
Lewis Hall – 7
I thought Lewis Hall was excellent: he mopped up, drove forward and offered support to Elanga and Gordon on the overlap.
I wrote him off because of the goal where I had to allow possession at a great height and left Botman unprotected.
Lewis Miley – 8
Skinned in the opening minute by Bradley Barcola which led to young Lewis giving away the penalty, a very harsh decision and a case of deja vu when it came to Newcastle United at the Parc de Princes.
You would be forgiven for thinking that this might have dented the confidence of someone of such tender years, but not Lewis Miley, who grew into the game and kept first Barcola and later Dembele at bay.
Jacob Ramsey – 7
Another one grew into the game and made a change.
Certainly one of his better performances, but there were some errant passes when he came under pressure and he was nowhere to be seen as Vitinha raced to the edge of the penalty area for their goal.
Sandro Tonali – 8
I was diligent and full of running and thought Sandro played an excellent game although, like Ramsey, he could not follow Vitinha’s run towards their goal.
Joe Willock – 8
Scored with a fantastic header and although he was thought marginally offside when he thought he had scored again, he showed great composure to hold off the defender and put the ball into the PSG net.
That would have been a goal to add to his headed effort.
Although I don’t rate little Joe higher than an 8, I give him my MOTM award. He was full of running, wasn’t afraid to get forward and played with confidence, as if the shackles were off.
Antonius Elanga – 7
An encouraging performance from our Swedish wide man, but he was still a little off the pace and guilty of sloppy passing at times, his replacement was much better.
Nick Woltemade – 7
Another one who worked a shift.
Nick held the ball better than we’ve seen recently, especially in the second half, but there were some wayward passes that put us under unnecessary pressure and for such a big guy he’s certainly not winning his quota of headers.
Substitutes
Harvey Barnes – 7
He looked lively after coming in and found himself in two great positions when he came to the end of Anthony Gordon’s industry.
He should have done better with the one he cut up, and he knew it.
Anthony Gordon – 8
Was very positive when he came on and although he only played from the 68th minute onwards he caused PSG more problems than the man he replaced.
We need to see more of this form from the Scouser.
Yoane Wissa N/A
Not long enough to judge.
Slavko Vincic (referee) – 0
Didn’t have the courage to reverse what VAR clearly wanted when awarding the penalty and refused to see Marquinhos’ handball at the other end. Strangely enough, he managed to wave a yellow card to Anthony Elanga after Kvaratskhelia had fouled the Swede. Immediately at the death he gave a soft foul against BDB when the ball was in the PSG box and mischief could be made. Complete rubbish.
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