_{Photo: AFP}

In the last few moments of the match, Paris Saint Germain footballers escaped defeat on the road to Lens in the 17th round of the French Ligue 1. The duel ended with the result 1-1.

PSG opened the match better, as Golden Ball winner Lionel Messi hit the post in the 18th minute. In continuation of the first half, the Les Rouge-et-Bleu had several great opportunities. Mauro Icardi and Angel Di Maria threatened, but the goalkeeper of Lens defended each shot brilliantly. The first half ended without any goals being scored.

The 2nd half witnessed an excellent game from the home side. It was in the 62nd minute when Lionel Messi was lying on the field, and as the game wasn’t interrupted, Seko Fofana scored fantastically from distance to take put Lens in the lead. Of course, the Parisians sent fierce protests because the referee did not interrupt the game.

The sequel brought a lot of space for the Lance players who were able to cement their triumph on several occasions. David Costa struck a 30 meter free kick home 69 minutes into the post. The second goal for the home team could have also been scored by Florian Sotoca at the end of the match, but he shot wide.

When it seemed that the match would end with the victory of the home team, Georginio Wijnaldum used Messi’s interception and scored a header for the final 1-1.

_{Photo: Ian Langsdon / EFE}

Despite the words of consolation from Leonardo from the past seven days, there’s a significant problem at Paris Saint-Germain right now as their extravagantly assembled platoon underwhelmed again in Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Nice.

Kasper Dolberg had the first chance of the game, taking a shot on from the edge of the box and forcing a brilliant save from Gianluigi Donnarumma. The opening 15 minutes saw PSG have 81 percent possession, with Nice easily setup to try and take a point, and Mbappe nearly punished them after 20. Donnarumma was also called upon again to make another stunning stop, this time from Andy Delort’s shot from a cross which was headed towards the top of the PSG net before the Italian clawed it down.

Neymar’s absence was felt, and maybe this is why the Parisian club have fought to secure him to a new contract before Mbappe. Mbappe also hit the post following a clever pass from Messi, but you could noway count Nice out, with Dolberg repeating the feat with a sneaky shot that shaved Donnarumma’s left post.

The Ligue 1 title will head to the Parc des Princes this term, as the club are formerly 12 points clear of Marseille, but the lack of cohesive performances domestically is a solicitude as we head into the knockout stage of the Champions League, which is where Pochettino will be judged, and judged roughly.

_{Photo: Reuters}

PSG beat St. Etienne in the match of the 15th round of the French Ligue 1 with the result 3-1. This game was marked by the debut of Sergio Ramos as well as a hat-trick of assists made by Lionel Messi.

Ramos wore the PSG jersey for the first time after leaving Real Madrid at the end of last season, but his debut did not start well because as St. Etienne took the lead in the 25th minute with a goal by Bouange. However, in the 45th minute, Kolodziejczak received a red card and left the home team with a player less for the rest of the match, and soon after, Messi’s cross shot was turned into a goal by Marquinhos.

PSG reached a turning point in the 79th minute when Messi hooked up Di Maria with a goal, and the final 3-1 was set by Marquinhos with his second goal, after another assist by Messi. This is Messi’s fifth time in his career that he scored a hat-trick in assists, and for the first time in a PSG jersey.

PSG remains first on the table with 40 points after 15 games played, while St. Etienne in the last position with only 12 points scored.

_{Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat / Getty Images}

The English titleholders were buzzing on and off the pitch as Pep Guardiola’s side beat PSG with 2-1.

Inside the stadium, the atmosphere erected with a pre-match evocative of a boxing match & the field plunged into darkness, searchlights circling for the stars to arrive as a DJ banged out loud cotillion music. Also in the match, when Messi nutmegged Raheem Sterling beforehand on there were gasps from all sides of the ground – the same when Bernardo Silva sidestepped three PSG players.

The Ligue 1 side took the lead through Mbappe after neat interplay between Messi and Neymar, but it was a rare moment of quality and came against the run of play. Messi tried his best for most of the game, but was bullied into quietness by Ruben Dias. Neymar shone in casts but failed to get involved while Mbappe was frequently on the fringe staying for effects to be. But the game was mostly consisted of passing at the other end of the pitch.

Indeed without a striker, City were the more threatening, Keylor Navas making hopeless saves and Kimpembe and Achraf Hakimi clearing the ball off the line.

When Sterling poked home an equaliser there sounded to be only one winner. It came in the 76th nanosecond when Gabriel Jesus fired home from Silva’s perfect and composed touch. The Portuguese midfielder showed all the skill and quality that streams through the PSG side, just with added desire and workrate.

_{Photo: Getty Images}

PSG players beat Nantes 3-1 at the Parc des Princes in the 14th round of Ligue 1, as the match was marked by Lionel Messi who scored his first goal for the Parisian club in the French championship.

The match went great for the Parisians as Mbappe scored in the second minute. The home team absolutely dominated and created a large number of opportunities, but there was no change of the scoreline by the end of the first half.

The problem for PSG arose in the 65th minute when goalkeeper Keylor Navas received a direct red card, so the home team played with a player less until the end of the match. Nantes quickly equalized through Cola Muani, but the Parisians still came to victory in the last eight minutes.

First, Appiah scored an own goal, and three minutes before the end of the match, we saw the magic of Messi who reminded us of the best days when he similarly solved problems by playing for Barcelona. This was Lionel’s first goal in the French championship after five matches in which he did not enter the list of scorers.

PSG has consolidated its first place in Ligue 1 as they have 13 points more than second-placed Lens, who also has a game less.