Club World Cup: Botafogo Hand PSG Surprise Defeat
PSG recorded five total shots while Botafogo countered with two, but it would be the Brazilian side that took the lead. After a tightly contested first half, then in the 36th minute, Botafogo struck to break the scoreless deadlock as Igor Jesus opened the scoring with a deflected shot.
The Brazilian was well picked out between the Parisian center-backs, took advantage of a favorable bounce, and saw his shot deflected by Willian Pacho before finding the back of the net.
In the second half, PSG recorded 11 total shots while Botafogo recorded two and attempted to hold onto their one-goal advantage. Despite the capital club’s efforts, it would be Botafogo that held onto their lead to secure the win and all three points heading into Matchday 3.
After the loss to Botafogo, Désiré Doué spoke to DAZN and shared his thoughts on the disappointing result for the Ligue 1 McDonald’s club.
“We’re disappointed. We lost. It’s not what we wanted—we’re very disappointed tonight...We weren’t clinical. We had a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities. I think they had two or three shots, and they were very efficient in front of our goal. But we weren’t, and that’s what we lacked tonight.”
After the match, Luis Enrique also spoke to the media and noted what Botafogo did tactically that allowed them to secure the surprising result.
"I think it was a tight match at the start with a lot of difficulties creating scoring chances. They scored from a play that was, I think, unusual and a bit strange, but they defended very well and played a very good game. It was tough for us from the beginning."
PSG will be looking for a bounce-back win on Matchday 3 when they face Seattle Sounders, who lost 3-1 on Matchday 2 against Atlético de Madrid.
Enrique and his team still control their destiny to advance to the knockout stage of the competition, as all they need is a win over the MLS club since they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Spanish side, who will be facing Botafogo.
The Stat: 1
Following their win over PSG, Botafogo became the first CONMEBOL club to defeat a European team at the Club World Cup since Corinthians beat Chelsea on December 16, 2012.
Photo credit: @PSG_English
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