Ajaccio 0-3 Paris Saint-Germain: Lionel Messi & Kylian Mbappe Score Goals as PSG Extend Ligue 1 Lead
In Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Ajaccio 3-0 at Stade François Coty thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. The victory extended PSG’s advantage at the top of the table to six points, with Christophe Galtier’s side having a record of 10 victories and two draws from 12 games, giving them 32 points.
FC Lorient is second with 26, while Lens is third with 24.
Paris Saint-Germain stretched their Ligue 1 lead to six points with a 3-0 victory against AC Ajaccio at Stade Francois Coty.
Despite not being at their best, PSG opened the lead after 24 minutes when Kyli Mbappe grabbed onto Leo Messi’s through pass and finished first-time past Ajaccio goalkeeper Benjamin Leroy and into the net.
Les Parisiens should have been two goals up 10 minutes later, but Mbappe blasted over the crossbar from close range after failing to capitalise on a wonderful cut-back from Achraf Hakimi.
Ajaccio weathered the storm at the start of the second half before creating a good chance to tie the game, but Youssef Belaili’s effort from the edge of the box was expertly pushed away by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Paris subsequently scored the game-winning goal in the 78th minute, when Mbappe provided Messi with a fantastic backheeled pass inside the penalty area, and the Argentine tapped in past Ajaccio’s Leroy.
Christophe Galtier’s side clinched the points four minutes later, when Mbappe was teed up by another Messi through ball and scored low into the bottom-left corner of the net from close range, giving PSG their second win in a row.
Despite the result, Galtier’s PSG team were not at their best today, as they had to be patient in the first half as Ajaccio sought to break out of the traps with a rapid tempo. The vulnerabilities in the home defense opened up as the game continued, leading to Paris’ first goal, which was carefully worked and finished superbly by Mbappe.
They were considerably better in the second half and took advantage of Ajaccio chasing the ball to exploit the openings in behind. The game was over after PSG scored their second goal, as the Corsican team just switched off.
Due to injuries and bans, certain fringe players such as Nordi Mukiele and Carlos Soler were inserted into the PSG starting lineup tonight, and the former impressed at center half alongside Marquinhos and did not put a foot wrong.
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LEO MESSI WON PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Messi produced some magic tonight, playing brilliantly for PSG in a role that allowed him to roam freely in pockets of space in attack. He mostly played immediately behind Mbappe as a second striker, and he worked effectively with his teammate, as both were involved in all three Paris goals.
In this game, the 35-year-old produced four important passes, two of which resulted in assists for Mbappe. He also dribbled three times successfully. He now has 10 assists in all competitions for PSG this season, one fewer than Kevin De Bruyne, who leads Europe’s top five leagues with 10.
