PSG’s dreams of progressing in the UEFA Cup remain alive as they took a point against Racing Santander, however, Paul Le Guen will have been left hugely frustrated that his side failed to hold on for victory after leading 2-0. Simply woeful defending allowed les Parisien to open the scoring through Kezman early on, a goal that would be added to by Luyindula before half time. Santander fought back through an own goal from Sammy Traoré and a screaming strike from Gonzalo Colsa.

As predicted, Le Guen played a largely secondary side in this fixture. Kezman lead the line beside Peguy Luyindula while the midfield was almost totally reshuffled. Only Jérôme Rothen maintained his place while Makélélé made way in the centre for Sankharé and Bourillon. On the right, Pancrate started. Defensively there was no great change as Sakho came into the rearguard. Meanwhile, the guests played with a strong squad, similar to the team that beat Espanyol very convincingly at the weekend. Tchité played a largely lone role in attack while Jonathan, Serrano and Munitis tried to support from the midfield. It would be the latter of this trio, the club captain, who would impress to the greatest extent, with his crossing particularly impressive. Colsa scored a terrific goal but Racing’s defence was mixed. César Navas was strong in the centre but they did concede cheap goals.

The first of these arrived after only five minutes and was the result of two horrendous errors. Tono and a defender were caught trying to shepherd the ball out of play, however, Pancrate stole the ball away. Racing appeared to get out of jail when the loose ball was acquired by a defender, however, he too lost possession. Luyindula’s touch took the ball to Kezman, who opportunistically shot into the top corner from inside the box. PSG’s lead was doubled soon after, although Kezman had another fine chance to extend les Parisiens’ advantage before that. It would be the Serbian, haring down the left channel, who would provide the pass for the second goal of the evening as he rolled a ball inside for Luyindula to shoot home from a tight angle. Had PSG managed to hold out until half time with a two goal cushion they would surely have won but they were not to be so lucky. Munitis would deliver a number of wicked free-kicks in the match but his first caught Sammy Traoré luckless as the big defender glanced a header beyond Mickaël Landreau and into the net as he attempted to clear. Quickly, PSG would reassert themselves and would be on the front-foot, however, chances were passed up before the interval. Santander started the second period strongly and were quickly back on level terms. After a period of pressure with little penetration, the ball was laid back to Colsa, who, from 25 yards, struck a sweet shot into the home net. Both teams would miss late chances to win the game with Kezman again culpable for the hosts while Garay missed the ball totally when free in front of the PSG goal.

Victory for les Parisiens, which Paul Le Guen felt they should have achieved, would have taken them into a very good position to qualify but now they face the exit door. Things look a little brighter for Racing, who have two points to date but both these sides look likely to crash out.