Lionel Messi scored for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in a recent match, helping his team move 5 points ahead in the league standings. However, it was reported that teammate Kylian Mbappe suffered an injury during the match.
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as PSG, is a professional football club based in Paris, France. Founded in 1970, PSG has a long and successful history, having won numerous domestic and international titles, including multiple Ligue 1 championships and French Cups. The club is one of the most successful and widely supported in France and has a reputation for attracting some of the world's top football talent.
World Cup winner Lionel Messi scored and Kylian Mbappé missed a twice-taken penalty before getting injured as Paris Saint-Germain won 3-1 at Montpellier to move five points clear at the top of the French league.
Mbappé went down clutching his leg just under the right knee and limped off in the 21st minute — having earlier missed a twice-taken penalty and blazed the rebound over an open goal on his second effort.
It was unclear exactly what his injury was. Television cameras also caught him rubbing the back of his left thigh as he walked to the dressing room.
PSG coach Christophe Galtier told broadcaster Canal Plus “he took a blow behind the knee,” and then said at his news conference the injury does not appear serious.
After being set up by Fabián Ruiz, who gave PSG the lead in the 55th, Argentina's superstar Messi scored PSG's second goal with a typically precise finish in the 72nd.
Arnaud Nordin, a striker, pulled one back in the 89th, and Warren Zare-Emery, a 16-year-old substitute, scored his first goal for the club in stoppage time to make it 3-1 for the home team.
After becoming the youngest player to score for PSG, Zare-Emery stated, "It's my first goal in the first division, so I'm very happy." March is the midfielder's 17th birthday.
Marseille, which defeated Nantes 2-0 to move one point ahead of Lens into second place for the automatic Champions League spot, is five points ahead of defending champion PSG.
Lens suffered its first home league defeat and second overall when it lost to Nice 1-0.
This month, PSG travels to Monaco and Marseille for the French Cup. On February 14, PSG plays Bayern Munich in the Champions League's first leg of their round-of-16 matchup.
Earlier, Marseille extended its overall streak of unbeaten games to 10.
When Joao Victor, a Nantes central defender, tackled Cengiz Ünder, an onrushing winger, inside the penalty area, Marseille scored in the 58th. In his Marseille debut, new signing Azzedine Ounahi, a midfielder who played for Morocco in the World Cup semifinals, scored the second goal in extra time.
In its previous seven games, Nantes had not let in a goal. Under coach Igor Tudor, Marseille has won seven of its last eight league games.
Gaetan Laborde, a striker, scored twice in a row to give Nice its first league loss since October 9 against Lens.
With a 3-2 home victory over 19th-place Auxerre, fourth-place Monaco maintained its scoring form and remained one point ahead of fifth-place Rennes. Monaco has scored 13 goals in its last four league games, led by striker Wissam Ben Yedder and 17-year-old attacking midfielder Eliesse Ben Seghir.
Rennes defeated Strasbourg, an 18th-place team, 3-0 at home thanks to two goals from forward Amine Gouiri, while Lyon, a mid-table team, held Brest to a 0-0 home draw.
Folarin Balogun, an English striker, scored an equalizer in extra time as Reims drew 1-1 with PSG on Sunday. He then scored a hat trick in his team's 4-2 victory over Lorient to move to the top of the scoring charts. He finished one goal ahead of PSG striker Kylian Mbappé with 14 goals.
Balogun, who started his career at Arsenal in the Premier League, scored three goals against Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone, who also started his career at Arsenal. Balogun even came close to scoring a fourth goal toward the end of the match.
Thijs Dallinga, a Dutch striker, scored the first goal for Toulouse in their 4-1 victory over Troyes last weekend after scoring two goals for Toulouse.
Also, Clermont and Lille played out a 0-0 draw, and last-place Angers lost 2-1 at home to Ajaccio, whose striker Mounam El Idrissy scored in the fourth minute of extra time.
Angers has only won two of its 21 games this season and has lost a French league-record 13 matches in a row.
