Lionel Messi scored his first Ligue 1 goal since November 2021 as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) routed last season’s champions Lille 5-1 at Stade Pierre Mauroy on Sunday evening.
Ending a six-game drought in the competition, Messi produced a cunning finish for PSG’s third goal, with Danilo Pereira netting twice and Presnel Kimpembe also on target before Kylian Mbappe’s sumptuous 20-yard strike rounded off the scoring.
The Parisians’ 1-0 defeat to Lille in April last season was a pivotal result in the title race, with Lille finishing a point clear of Mauricio Pochettino’s team to be crowned Ligue 1 champions.
| PHOTO: Getty Images |
Sunday night’s result keeps Lille mired in mid-table this time around, while PSG holds a 13-point lead over second-placed Marseille.
The visitors took a 10th-minute lead when goalkeeper Ivo Grbic fumbled a cross from the left whipped in by Nuno Mendes, spilling the ball and allowing Pereira to poke home.
Messi curled wide from 20 yards for PSG, but it was Lille who snatched the game’s second goal, Sven Botman beating Gianluigi Donnarumma with a bouncing shot from 10 yards after Hatem Ben Arfa made a nuisance of himself, wriggling into the box from the left flank.
PSG restored their lead in the 32nd minute when Messi’s corner from the right was prodded in at the far post by Kimpembe, for the defender’s first league goal this season.
Messi had his goal six minutes later when he collected the leftovers from a Mbappe charge, spotting a gap between Lille defenders and darting through before cheekily chipping Grbic.
PSG’s fourth after 51 minutes saw Pereira’s 25-yard strike deflect off Amadou Onana and deceive Grbic.
Both Mbappe and Messi were on target for PSG against Lille on Sunday, Feb 6 2022 in a Ligue 1 clash. | PHOTO; Getty Images |
There was then little the goalkeeper could do about Mbappe’s classy finish, as the France star, stepping in from the left, curled the ball into the far-right corner for the visitors’ crowning glory.
After losing on penalties to Nice in the Coupe de France on Monday, it was important that PSG got back into their stride. This will not exorcise the ghosts of last season, but it points to the gulf that now exists between Pochettino’s men and Lille.
PSG have now avoided defeat in their last 19 matches when scoring the opening goal in Ligue 1, dating back to March 21 last year. They have won all 12 league games this season when they have struck first. They might need to sharpen up their spot-kicks, in case they become a factor in the Champions League, but this was largely impressive from the capital giants.
Lille had not lost any of their nine most recent Ligue 1 home games (W5 D4), but they got off to a woeful start here when Grbic blundered. The goalkeeper was also partly to blame for PSG’s second too, failing to gather the corner from Messi that found Kimpembe.
There was a touch of class about the goals from Messi and Mbappe, while Pereira’s second owed a lot to good fortune, but to face only seven shots on target and concede five times is not a great ratio for any goalkeeper. At the other end, Donnarumma made four saves, and might think he should have done better with the goal from Botman.
Messi attempted a game-high five shots, three of which hit the target, and although there is more to come from him, this was a game where he looked in control and was able to dictate. Ahead of the Champions League tussle with Real Madrid, this was exactly what PSG wanted to see from the former Barcelona captain. After Messi’s recent COVID-19 lay-off, Pochettino can only have been encouraged by his fellow Argentinians.
PSG tackle Rennes in Ligue 1 on Friday, before they host Madrid in the first leg of that big European tie the following Tuesday. Lille are also alive in the Champions League, and they too have a Friday Ligue 1 assignment next when they host Metz, before travelling to Chelsea.
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