Gianluigi Donnarumma’s Penalty Heroics Earn Praise from Luis Enrique

On Sunday night at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Paris Saint-Germain clinched a 2-0 victory against RC Lens. Despite an opportunity for Les Sang et Or to score first, Gianluigi Donnarumma stepped up and thwarted their chances.

Lens received a penalty kick chance after Danilo Pereira committed a foul inside the box. Przemysław Frankowski stepped into the box to take the shot. The Lens forward went down the middle with his shot, and rather than dive to the left or right, the Italian didn’t move, allowing him to prevent the goal.

Additionally, Donnarumma made five saves in the win. After the match, manager Luis Enrique spoke postgame about the 24-year-old’s performance against Lens and praised the shot-stopper for that save.

“You know, Gigio and the goalkeeping coach Borja [Álvarez] talked about it before the match,” Enrique told reporters (h/t Culture PSG). “During the match, when the penalty was whistled, they discussed it, and he told him, “he can shoot in the middle.” I suffered with Gigio against Italy in the Euro (2020) during a penalty shootout with Spain; today, he brings me a lot of joy (laughs).”

If PSG wants to succeed this 2023-24 season, they need Donnarumma to step up in big moments and avoid the mental mishaps that he’s had in the past. Should Donnarumma continue to perform as he did against Lens for the rest of this campaign, it spells well for the Parisians.