Tuchel backs ´sad´ Neymar to score next penalty

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Thomas Tuchel backed Neymar to score his next penalty, saying the forward was “sad” about his miss against Saint-Etienne.

Neymar hit the post with a second-half penalty in PSG’s 4-0 victory in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

It came just days after the Brazilian handed spot-kick duties to Edinson Cavani during a Champions League thrashing of Galatasaray.

But Tuchel still believes in Neymar, who provided two assists in the comfortable league win, from the spot.

“I’m always a little nervous as a coach, that’s normal,” he told a news conference.

“When he shoots, normally, I’m pretty sure he scores. He’s sad because he still wants to score, it was a great opportunity for him.

“But he’s going to kick the next penalty, and I’m sure he’ll score again.”

@neymarjr

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— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) December 15, 2019

Already behind to Leandro Paredes’ opener, Saint-Etienne were reduced to 10 men when Jean-Eudes Aholou saw red in the 25th minute.

Kylian Mbappe, set up twice by Neymar, scored a brace either side of Mauro Icardi’s goal as PSG claimed a fifth straight Ligue 1 win.

“We have defended very well, with great intensity, always together,” Tuchel said.

“This is a good time for us, victory is deserved. We had a lot of chances to score. We recovered a lot of balls high up in the opposing field.

“We never stopped defending, even after the red card. It was good, I’m happy. Congratulations to the team.”