PARIS: Paris St Germain felt Neymar’s absence as they dropped their first points in Ligue 1 this season in a disappointing 0-0 draw at Montpellier on Saturday.

Montpellier managed to grab a point after a spirited display against a star-studded side who had won their previous six league games.

Brazilian Neymar, who got into an argument with Edinson Cavani over who would take a penalty in last week’s 2-0 win over Lyon, missed the game due to a minor foot injury.

PSG were uninspired throughout and saw its lead over defending champions Monaco cut to just one point. Monaco thrashed Lille 4-0 on Friday.

“We came here to win ahead of Bayern’s visit, it was very important,” said PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, referring to Bayern Munich’s trip to Paris in the Champions League next week. “We need to forget this game.”

PSG coach Unai Emery, meanwhile, said he expects Neymar to return from injury for Tuesday’s match against Bayern.

“We will wait until tomorrow to see about his return,” Emery said. “There are three days left to prepare for the match, but I think that if everything goes normally he will be back.”

Emery wants his men to be able to break down stubborn opposition without their key playmaker.

“We need all the players, when a player is missing it’s important to maintain the level and pace,” the Spaniard added, after his side mustered just one shot on target.

“Others have had time to play and they’ve helped the team, but we can’t say that the match would have been different with Neymar. We will play more matches with Neymar this season, but we also need to work [when we’re] without a player.”

Girondins Bordeaux preserved their unbeaten record as substitutes Alexandre Mendy and Jonathan Cafu scored in a 3-1 home win over En Avant Guingamp.

Jimmy Briand had missed a penalty for the visitors before Francois Kamano put Jocelyn Gourvennec’s side ahead and Yannis Salibur equalised.

But Gourvennec’s changes worked perfectly as Bordeaux moved into third.

Mariano Diaz scored his fifth Ligue 1 goal for Olympique Lyonnais since joining from Real Madrid, but Cedric Yambere grabbed away team Dijon a thrilling 3-3 draw.

Lyon’s Nabil Fekir had also netted for the fifth time this season, before Dijon turned the game around with goals from Naim Sliti and Xeka.

Teenager Houssem Aouar levelled before Diaz’s penalty, but Yambere pinched a point.

Caen beat Amiens 1-0 to go sixth, while 10-man Troyes edged out bottom club Metz 1-0 thanks to a last-minute strike by Samuel Grandsir.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2017