Draw with Anderlecht delays PSG celebration

Zlatan Ibrahimovic salvaged a 1-1 home draw for Paris St. Germain against Anderlecht as the French champion was made to wait for a Champions League last-16 spot on Tuesday.

Demy De Zeeuw opened the scoring for the Belgians in the 68th minute, only for Ibrahimovic to equalize two minutes later from inside the area.

Anderlecht was reduced to 10 men in the 82nd minute when Sacha Kljestan was shown a second yellow card, but the visiting side, which lost 5-0 at home to PSG two weeks ago, held firm.

The French side leads Group C with 10 points from four games, three ahead of Olympiakos, which beat Benfica 1-0. Benfica has four points and Anderlecht is bottom with one point.

"I would not say we lacked the desire to play," PSG coach Laurent Blanc told a news conference.

"We were too average in all departments, we were not good technically, which had not happened to us in a along time.

"Anderlecht was rewarded for their efforts. They are a good, well-organized team."

Said PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi: "We faced a team looking to avoid defeat and we did not do what we had to do. We would have liked to qualify tonight, but I think we will do it next time."

PSG next faces Olympiakos at home in three weeks while Anderlecht hosts Benfica.

"The first leg helped us grow and tonight we can be disappointed that we did not take all three points," said Anderlecht defender Fabrice N'Sakala.

(China Daily 11/07/2013 page24)