Kimpembe avoids red card but sustains injury following late lunge in PSG win

Presnel Kimpembe is set for a spell on the sidelines after injuring his hamstring in a rash challenge that left Brest coach Michel Der Zakarian furious.

Kimpembe was already on a booking in the closing stages of Paris Saint-Germain’s 1-0 win on Saturday when he lunged in on Irvin Cardona.

The France defender somehow escaped punishment, but he went away clutching his hamstring and left PSG down to 10 men regardless as he departed down the tunnel for treatment with all five substitutions already used.

It now appears likely Kimpembe will not play against either Maccabi Haifa or Lyon ahead of an international break for which he will also be a doubt.

“He suffers from a muscle injury,” coach Christophe Galtier said. “He will have tests and we will wait within 48 hours to see the severity.”

Yet that news was of little consolation to Der Zakarian, who had earlier seen Islam Slimani’s penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

4 – Paris won by a single goal in a Ligue 1 game as their opponents missed a penalty for the fourth time under QSI (since 2011/12) and for the first time since May 2019, at Angers (2-1). Gigio. #PSGSB29 pic.twitter.com/xsDhpv6YJw

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) September 10, 2022

It was for that foul that Kimpembe was initially booked, and the Brest coach suggested there would have been a very different response from the officials had one of his cautioned players acted so rashly in stoppage time.

“The linesman is in front of it – he’s like me,” Der Zakarian said. “We’re all five metres from the action with the fourth official and the linesman.

“When he tackles… the noise, everyone heard it. And the linesman didn’t even call a foul!

“Yes, he must receive a card, minimum yellow. If he gets a yellow, he is sent off, since he has already taken one. If it’s us, we’re out. But it’s Paris.”