Neymar rejuvenates Paris Saint Germain
Paris, Aug 21 (IANS) Neymar seemed to be everywhere as he rejuvenated French football club Paris Saint Germain in its come-from-behind 6-2 victory over Toulouse, his second match for the squad, this time at the Parc des Princes here.
On Sunday, the home squad scored four times in the last 15 minutes of play, and Neymar, apart from scoring twice, participated in two of his team’s other goals and provided two assists, reports Efe.
The Brazilian had scored on his debut outing in PSG’s 3-0 win at Guingamp last week, after joining the squad from Barcelona for a world record 222 million euros ($262 million)
The Brazilian superstar clearly showed his emotions before the opening of the match as the stadium observed a moment of silence for the 14 people killed in the terror attacks in and near Barcelona last week.
But it was the visitors who got on the board first with a tally in the 18th minute by Max Gradel.
Then it was Neymar’s turn just after the half-hour point taking advantage of a shot by Adrien Rabiot to score.
Four minutes later, Rabiot once again combined with Neymar and the Frenchman scored from 18 meters, beating out Alban Lafont for Toulouse, and after that point PSG settled down substantially but never lost control of the match.
Twenty minutes before the final whistle, after Italian Marco Verratti was red-carded, PSG was left with just 10 men on the pitch, although that didn’t seem to affect them at all
Then – after Neymar was fouled – Uruguayan Edinson Cavani fired a penalty kick in from 11 meters, making it 3-1.
Christopher Jullien took advantage of a misplay to score again for Toulouse a few minutes later, knocking in a header for 3-2.
Neymar helped get the ball to Javier Pastore, who smashed one into the twine in the 82nd minute, only to be superseded by a fabulous goal by Layvin Kurzawa, helped by the Brazilian once again.
Then, it was Neymar who put the icing on the cake in extra time with a great solo finish for the final result as PSG stayed undefeated.