Pacesetters Paris Saint-Germain botched their opportunity to claim a record 12th Ligue 1 crown in front of their fans on Saturday night with a 3-3 draw against relegation-threatened Le Havre.
The faithful at least heartily applauded the players at the end of the game for battling from 3-1 down to reach parity at a rain-swept Parc des Princes.
With Wednesday's trip to Dortmund for the Champions League semi-final in mind, PSG boss Luis Enrique kept goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma and strikers Kylian Mbappé and Gonçalo Ramos on the bench.
But his team still boasted seasoned operators. Skipper Marquinhos was in the starting line-up to anchor the defence with Danilo. Vitinha and Warren Zaire-Emery were deployed in midfield to pull the strings.
And the duo duly provided the platform for the early domination. But it failed to yield any clear chances.
In the 19th minute, the hosts paid the price for their lack of incision. On a rare venture into PSG territory, the visitors took the lead.
Emmanuel Sabbi surged down the right and passed to the unmarked Christopher Operi who slotted the ball elegantly past the PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas into the net.
Return
The advantage lasted only 10 minutes. Ousmane Dembélé's trickery down the right opened up space for Zaire-Emery and the teenager slid a pass across the face of the goal for Bradley Barcola to tap in.
A PSG onslaught seemed imminent.
But it was Le Havre who struck just before the pause. Loic Nego hustled his way into the PSG penalty area, fed Andre Ayew with a slick back-heel pass and the Ghana international's shot took a deflection to fly past Navas.
Cavalry
Enrique sent on Mbappé, Kang-in Lee and Senny Mayulu for Dembélé, Marco Asensio and Barcola at the start of the second-half to invigorate his team and seek parity.
The ploy appeared to be working as Achraf Hakimi and Mbappé went close to levelling.
But on the hour mark, PSG defender Danilo tripped Nego in the penalty area and after consulting the video monitor on the side of the pitch, referee Willy Delajod awarded a spot kick. Abdoulaye Toure converted to make it 3-1.
With 14 minutes remaining Ramos set up Hakimi to finish past Arthur Desmas. And Ramos nodded in the equaliser in stoppage time to deny Le Havre a famous victory which would have lifted them two points clear of the relegation zone.
🏁 C'est terminé au Parc.
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) April 27, 2024
Nos Parisiens accrochent le match nul dans les dernières minutes de la rencontre ! 🤝#PSGHAC 3️⃣-3️⃣ | #Ligue1 pic.twitter.com/TejPieQ02r
Boasting 70 points after 31 games, PSG will claim the crown on Sunday if second-placed Monaco fail to win at Lyon.
Should Monaco take the three points, PSG will get another chance to claim Ligue 1 in front of the home faithful on 12 May when they play Toulouse.
Before Qatar Sports Investments took full control of the club in 2011, PSG had claimed two Ligue 1 crowns in their 40 years of existence.
But with a billion euros of investment in the planet's best players and coaches, they have dominated the domestic firmament.
In addition to the top flight titles, they have also lifted six Coupe de France and Couple de La Ligue trophies and 10 French Super Cups.
The team can add two more pieces of silverware to the cabinet this campaign.
On 25 May in Lille, they take on Lyon in the final of the 2024 Coupe de France and during the first week of May, they play Borussia Dortmund over two legs for a place in the final of the 2024 Champions League.
With the title effectively decided, intrigue will focus on the race for second and third place – the berths leading to slots in the group stages of next season's Champions League.
Monaco, with 58 points, are in pole position for one of the places.
Third placed Brest, on 53 points, play at Rennes on Sunday and Lille, who are fourth with 52 points, are in action at Metz who occupy the relegation play-off place with 29 points – the same number as Le Havre.
