PSG beat Nantes: Lionel Messi finally breaks Ligue 1 duck – Lionel Messi finally broke his Ligue 1 duck after five games in PSG’s 3-1 win over Nantes. While the former Barcelona forward scored for PSG in the UEFA Champions League, he went 326 minutes without scoring in Ligue 1.
However, he finally broke the deadlock with a sublime left-footed finish. Messi found the back of the net with a curled left-footed effort from outside the box three minutes from time, adding to Dennis Appiah’s own goal after Randal Kolo Muani had cancelled out Kylian Mbappe’s first-half opener.
PSG beat Nantes: Lionel Messi finally breaks Ligue 1 duck with sublime strike as PSG beat Nantes 3-1- Check highlights
MESSI HAS DONE ITTTTTT GOAL IN LIGUE 1!!!!!!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍 pic.twitter.com/ZonJgYFMn2
— mx (@MessiMX30i) November 20, 2021
The result left PSG with 37 points from 14 games ahead of a Champions League trip to Manchester City on Wednesday, while Nantes are 11th on 18 points.
PSG beat Nantes: Lionel Messi finally breaks Ligue 1 duck with sublime strike as PSG beat Nantes 3-1- Check highlights
Messi has scored three goals in the Champions League since joining from Barcelona during the close season but the Argentine forward had not found the back of the net in his five previous appearances in Ligue 1.
Messi’s first Ligue 1 goal was worth the wait 🤩
(via @ESbeINSPORTS) pic.twitter.com/qgkfBFMzNM
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 20, 2021
PSG started brilliantly as Mbappe deflected Leandro Paredes’ long-range strike to put the hosts ahead after just two minutes.
The attacking trio coordinated nicely, with Mbappe shifting to the right wing and leaving Messi more on the inside. The Argentine came close in the 17th minute after being set up by Neymar.
PSG beat Nantes: Lionel Messi finally breaks Ligue 1 duck with sublime strike as PSG beat Nantes 3-1- Check highlights
Mbappe tormented the Nantes defence with his technique and brutal accelerations as he looked to find Messi. Nantes keeper Alban Lafont kept his team afloat with several saves as the visitors struggled to get into PSG’s half in a one-sided opening half.
Nantes put some pressure on after the break, but their attempts were too weak for Navas, who made his first proper save in the 61st minute to block Ludovic Blas’ strike.
But the keeper was sent off four minutes later for charging into Blas outside his area. With Gianluigi Donnarumma out with a bout of gastro-enteritis, Sergio Rico stepped in and Neymar was sent back to the bench.
PSG beat Nantes: Lionel Messi finally breaks Ligue 1 duck with sublime strike as PSG beat Nantes 3-1- Check highlights
Rico made a brilliant save in a packed goalmouth and parried Kolo Muani’s header in the 76th, but the striker followed up and netted with a back heel to put the visitors level.
But Appiah deflected a Messi cross into his own net in the 81st minute, before Messi sent the Parc des Princes crowd into raptures with his trademark curled strike.
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