Igor Jesus scored as Botafogo beat European champion Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) 1-0 in their group stage match in the FIFA Club World Cup, at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, United States, on Thursday.
It was the first loss for the French side in this tournament while Botafogo went top of the table with consecutive victories.
The Copa Libertadores winner had opened the tournament against Major League Soccer side Seattle Sounders, beating it 2-1, wherein Jesus had scored the winner too.
French champion PSG is widely regarded as one of the favourites for FIFA’s 32-team tournament after a dazzling season which culminated with a scintillating 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in the Champions League final last month.
But its hopes of securing a victory, which would have seen it become the first side to reach the last 16, were stymied by a resilient performance from its opponent from Rio de Janeiro.
Paris Saint-Germain picked up where it had left off in Sunday’s 4-0 Group B rout of Atletico Madrid, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia testing Botafogo goalkeeper John with an early curling effort after just two minutes.
But that chance was as close as PSG came to scoring in a scrappy first half, punctuated by a series of niggling fouls that prevented the European champion from settling into its passing game.
Botafogo’s midfield trio of Marlon Freitas, Gregore and Allan worked tirelessly to close down Vitinha, denying the skilful PSG playmaker time and space to launch attacks despite dominating possession.
Instead, it was Botafogo which took the lead with a goal against the run of play on 36 minutes.
Jefferson Savarino’s perfectly weighted through ball split the PSG defence and sent Jesus racing through on goal.
The Botafogo striker did brilliantly to wrongfoot the covering Willian Pacho before sweeping a shot that took a slight deflection past PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on its way into the net.
PSG continued to dominate possession through the second half, and spent long periods camped in the final third.
But Botafogo’s defence held firm and the result leaves the Brazilians firmly on course for the last 16, with a final group game against Atletico Madrid to come in Pasadena on Monday.
(with inputs from AFP)
