Ligue 1: PSG Remain Undefeated As Neymar Sees Red, Mbappe Scores Last-Minute Winner

Posted by Samson Kankan Latest Headlines, Sports News Thursday, December 29th, 2022

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The French giants started their first match back with World Cup stars Kylian Mbappé, and Neymar starting, and Achraf Hakimi on the bench. The Parisians were also without World Cup-winning forward Lionel Messi, who continues his vacation in Argentina.

In the opening moments, the Brazilian’s inch-perfect free-kick met the head of a darting Marquinhos for 1-0, yet that led to the visitors ramping up the pressure.
Strasbourg then attempted to get back in the game by playing some slick football, managing to catch PSG off guard on numerous occasions. Ludovic Ajorque had the best opportunities to draw things level but fell short on a handful of occasions.

In the second half, however, the reigning league-1 champions were unwound by their own undoing.

A goal from the PSG captain turned things 1-1 before Neymar was shown two yellow cards in two minutes (the second for diving) and was subsequently sent off.
With 30 minutes left, Strasbourg pushed to find a winning goal but struggled to create anything worthwhile and it looked as though it would be a massive upset in Paris with the teams splitting the points.

Just before the final whistle, a mistake from the visitors handed PSG a lifeline as the livewire Mbappé was fouled in the box in added time. The ball had fallen to Marquinhos and the Brazilian bundled the ball into the net. However, the referee had already awarded a penalty so the goal was canceled.

Mbappé stepped up and secured the victory in the 96th minute from the spot.