Ligue 1 table as PSG beat Lille in thrilling encounter
By Euan Burns
Paris Saint-Germain put an end to their incredibly concerning losing run on Sunday afternoon as they beat Lille 4-3 thanks to late goals from Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi.
Christophe Galtier's side raced into a very commanding lead at the Parc des Princes in Ligue 1's early kick-off as Mbappe danced in between two Lille defenders into the box and finished calmly in the 11th minute. The lead was doubled just a few minutes later as Neymar finished a flick from Vitinha in the box.
PSG came into this one off the back of a 2-1 defeat in the cup against Marseille, a 3-1 loss against fellow title hopefuls Monaco, and then the 1-0 loss in the Champions League round of 16 first leg against Bayern Munich.
Considering how small the margin for error is at PSG, many began to fear for Galtier and after that 2-0 lead against Lille, PSG were 3-2 down with just a few minutes left to play. Goals from Bafode Diakite, Jonathan David and Jonathan Bamba meant that Lille looked on their way to a victory that would have done a lot for their European qualification hopes.
The cream so often rises to the top, though, and Mbappe soon got on the end of a delivery from Juan Bernat to make it 3-3 in the 87th minute. The stage was then set in the 94th minute for Messi as he stepped up to take a free-kick from the edge of the box. Needless to say, he found the back of the net and got what is his 699th career goal.
Position | Club | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | PSG | 24 | 18 | 3 | 3 | 57 |
2 | Monaco | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 50 |
3 | Marseille | 23 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 49 |
4 | Lens | 23 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 46 |
5 | Stade Rennes | 24 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 43 |
With Monaco beating Stade Brest 2-1 away from home on Matchday 24, they managed to maintain the gap to PSG although they must have been hopeful that Lille were going to get the job done. It still seems very likely that Marseille will be the closest challenger to PSG.
The two sides will face each other in Ligue 1 action on Sunday, February 26 and that could well be the game where the title is won or lost by either team.
The major concern for PSG after the Lille game is the fact that Neymar had to be substituted with a serious-looking ankle injury. He will certainly be out of that game against Marseille and he could miss plenty of other important matches, potentially being a key factor in the Ligue 1 title race.