PARIS , — Lionel Messi scored in the French league for the first time, while Kylian Mbappe scored the fastest goal of his career to beat Nantes 3-1 on Saturday.
PSG’s victory was sealed in the 87th minutes by Messi, who received the ball from Mbappe at the end a counterattack. The Argentina star advanced quickly to the box after receiving deneme bonusu the ball and dribbled past the defender before he curled one his signature left-footed shots past Alban Lafont, Nantes’ goalkeeper.
Messi, who moved from Barcelona this summer to join the team, already had three Champions League goals, but had not scored in his five previous Ligue 1 appearances.
PSG extended its lead over Lens to 13 points with the win. The nine-time champions also maintained their unbeaten home record this season. Lens will be in action at Brest on Sunday.
PSG coach Mauricio pochettino began Wednesday’s Champions League trip with three attacking stars, Mbappe and Messi, before heading to Manchester City.
PSG started well, as the home team took less than two minutes for the lead. Mbappe scored his seventh goal of this season.
Leandro Paredes, a Nantes defender, made a mistake and unleashed a 25-meter long half-volley. Mbappe deflected it past Lafont. Opta statistics show that it was PSG’s fastest league goal since May 2017 and Mbappe’s fastest goal in his professional career.
PSG was dominant in proceedings and monopolized possession. It came close to double its lead in 18 minutes, but Lafont’s strong hand prevented Messi from attempting Neymar’s cross.
A few minutes later, the Nantes goalkeeper was alert to stop a low shot by Mbappe. Then, he stopped Neymar’s fine attempt near the half-hour mark. Messi was frustrated in the 38th by another superb save by the 22-year old ‘keeper. He had played a one two with Marco Verratti, and broke through the Nantes defense, only to have his left-footed shot blocked.
After the break, the match became more balanced as Nantes was more aggressive. PSG was reduced down to 10 men after Keylor Navas, goalkeeper, was shown a red card. He was seen running alone towards the goal and was unable to control Ludovic Blas.
Nantes tried hard to find an equalizer, but was finally rewarded when Randal Kolo muani beat the offside trap and levelled the score in the 76th. Sergio Rico replaced Navas as forward, and the forward saw his header blocked. However, he continued his efforts with a smart backheel touch that crossed over the goalline.
Unlucky Nantes when Dennis Appiah attempted to intercept a low Messi pass, but instead deflected the ball into the back goal, before Messi opened his French league account.
