Paris Saint-Germain was solely minutes away from a fourth consecutive loss on Sunday (February 19) when Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi got here to the rescue to avert a serious disaster on the Qatari-backed membership. The French league leaders gave away a two-goal lead and had been trailing by one purpose with 4 minutes left earlier than Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi turned issues round to remodel a fiasco in the making right into a 4-3 win towards Lille.
As PSG seemed headed for one more setback, Mbappe snatched a late equalizer on the Parc des Princes. Messi then slotted dwelling the winner deep in added time from a free kick, with a deadly left-footed shot into the underside proper nook. “I’ll merely say that it is an important reduction,” PSG coach Christophe Galtier stated.
WATCH Lionel Messi’s match-winning free-kick right here…
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— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 19, 2023
The hard-fought win adopted a 1-0 defeat at dwelling midweek towards Bayern in the Champions League that got here after a 3-1 defeat to Monaco in the league and one other loss towards bitter rival Marseille in the French Cup. PSG saved a five-point lead over second-place Marseille, which saved the strain on the leaders with a 3-2 win at Toulouse forward of their conflict subsequent week on the Stade Velodrome in the most important match in French soccer.
After enjoying simply half an hour towards Bayern after coming back from a thigh damage, Mbappe was again in Galtier’s beginning lineup. His influence all through made up for PSG’s defensive inadequacies and lapses of focus. PSG led 2-0 after 17 minutes with objectives by Mbappe and Neymar however the French champions then conceded 3 times — with Bafode Diakite, Jonathan David and Jonathan Bamba all scoring — and misplaced Neymar via damage.
There had been apparent indicators of nerves amid the PSG ranks from the beginning. The hosts had been instantly below strain as Tim Weah’s shot took a deflection and Gianluigi Donnarumma was compelled right into a reflex save to cease the ball along with his toes. PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe then put Donnarumma in a tough scenario when he headed the ball again towards the keeper, solely to arrange David for a one-to-one. The Lille ahead appeared shocked by the unintended help and his right-footed shot was not ok to beat the Italy keeper.
Looking fragile, PSG relied on Mbappe to prepared the ground. Set up by Neymar, the France ahead burst down the left and minimize inside to come back nose to nose with Tiago Djalo and Diakite. Mbappe nutmegged Djalo and compelled his method between the pair, then beat goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier with a low shot in the eleventh minute.
PSG doubled their lead with a fast collective transfer ignited and concluded by Neymar, who slotted the ball into an empty web. Neymar was compelled off the sphere on a stretcher in the second half after twisting his proper ankle.
Despite the snug cushion, PSG seemed shaky and couldn’t dictate the play. The hosts typically discovered themselves pegged again in their half and didn’t maintain onto their lead for lengthy. Lille was rewarded for its efforts from a set piece in the twenty third minute, with Diakite heading the ball dwelling from Andre Gomes’ cross after a nook.
Things took a flip for the more serious for PSG after Marco Verratti pulled Djalo’s jersey in the field, prompting the referee to sign a penalty amid protests from PSG gamers and employees. David took the kick and coolly wrongfooted Donnarumma to degree. Bamba then put Lille in the driving seat with an outstanding strike from a decent angle into the highest nook, leaving Mbappe shaking his head in disbelief.
Mbappe didn’t quit, although, and put PSG again in the match when he latched onto a again cross from Juan Bernat to fit the ball into the again of the online earlier than Messi delighted PSG followers along with his free kick.
Elsewhere, objectives from Aleksandr Golovin and Myron Boadu gave third-place Monaco a 2-1 win at Brest and Lens beat Nantes 3-1 to stay in fourth place, eight factors behind PSG. Lorient beat Ajaccio 3-0, Rennes ahead Arnaud Kalimuendo scored twice in a 2-0 defeat of Clermont whereas Wahbi Khazri scored a late winner to steer Montpellier to a 1-0 win at Troyes.
(with PTI inputs)
