Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) threw away a two-goal lead for a second successive league game as Troyes battled back to earn a 2-2 draw on Sunday.
At the Parc des Princes, the hosts looked to be in control when Marquinhos and Neymar gave them a comfortable first-half lead.
But a series of defensive errors allowed the visitors to fight back in an entertaining affair.
Having surrendered a 3-1 advantage in last week’s 3-3 draw with Strasbourg, PSG were on the wrong end of another turnaround.
This was when Ike Ugbo and Florian Tardieu scored either side of the break.
Neymar also had two goals disallowed as PSG laboured to another underwhelming result, as the pressure on head coach Mauricio Pochettino continues to mount.
The hosts looked on course for a routine win when Marquinhos turned in Angel Di Maria’s excellent cross to open the scoring after five minutes.
Neymar doubled the lead from the penalty kick spot 20 minutes later after Erik Palmer-Brown clumsily felled Kylian Mbappe.
But Troyes were soon gifted a route back into the game when Ugbo intercepted Nuno Mendes’ terrible pass to fire into the bottom-left corner after half an hour.
PSG went close to re-establishing their two-goal advantage when Lionel Messi side-footed against the post, only for Neymar to be ruled offside when smashing home the rebound.
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The visitors punished another PSG error when Presnel Kimpembe hauled down Renaud Ripart after the interval, allowing Tardieu to execute an audacious panenka to level the scores.
Then Neymar saw another goal chalked off after Mbappe’s foul in the build-up.
Marquinhos sent a firm header wide and Messi crashed a long-range shot against the bar as the hosts chased a late winner.
But the disciplined visitors went on to claim a point at a frustrated Parc des Princes.
The result will do little to quieten the discontent around Pochettino’s team, with the Argentine under severe pressure in spite of wrapping up PSG’s 10th Ligue 1 title last month.(dpa/NAN)
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