Debutant Messi sees 24 minutes action in PSG win
Lionel Messi made his long-awaited debut for Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday coming in the 66th minute to replace Brazil international Neymar in their clash against Reims.
Messi who recently joined the Ligue 1 giants after many years with Barcelona where he won basketful of laurels will no doubt gradually blend into the new team.
It was however Kylian Mbappe who is currently being chased by La Liga giants Real Madrid that grabbed a brace against Reims in the encounter with a goal in the 16th minute and the second just three minutes before Messi came in.
PSG held the upper hand for much of the game but failed to capitalise on it. Their lack of finesse in their final shots nearly came back to bite them on 51 minutes when Marshall Munetsi put the ball into PSG’s net after poor goalkeeping from Keylor Navas.
The ball was dropped into the box and El Bilal Toure hit it towards goal. Navas fumbled the ball into Munetsi’s path and he stuck it into the net. However, after a VAR review it showed that he was marginally offside and the goal was disallowed.
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However, PSG began to attack with a renewed energy and they found their second goal. Achraf Hakimi sent a cross to the back post on 63 minutes where Mbappe was once again waiting to convert.
The result means PSG have maintained their perfect Ligue 1 record this season and top the table with 12 points.