World Cup winner Lionel Messi scored and Kylian Mbappé missed a twice-taken penalty before getting injured as Paris Saint-Germain won 3-1 at Montpellier to move five points clear at the top of the French league on Wednesday (February 1). Mbappé went down clutching his leg just under the right knee and limped off in the 21st minute — having earlier missed a twice-taken penalty and blazed the rebound over an open goal on his second effort.


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It was unclear exactly what his injury was. Television cameras also caught him rubbing the back of his left thigh as he walked to the dressing room. PSG coach Christophe Galtier told broadcaster Canal Plus “he took a blow behind the knee,” and then said at his news conference the injury does not appear serious.


“Is it a bruise? We don’t know yet. It doesn’t look very serious,” Galtier said. “We’re not too worried.”


The Argentina star Messi tucked home PSG’s second goal with a typically neat finish in the 72nd after being set up by Fabián Ruiz, who put PSG ahead in the 55th. It was Messi’s 697th goal in Top 5 European Leagues, surpassing the record of Cristiano Ronaldo and achieved in 84 less games than the Portugal star.


Striker Arnaud Nordin pulled one back in the 89th and, with the home team pushing forward, 16-year-old substitute Warren Zaïre-Emery drove the ball home for 3-1 in stoppage time with his first goal for the club. “It’s my first goal in the first division, so I’m very happy,” Zaïre-Emery said after becoming PSG’s youngest scorer. The midfielder turns 17 in March.


WATCH highlights of PSG win here...



Defending champion PSG is five points ahead of Marseille, which won 2-0 at Nantes to move one point ahead of Lens into second spot for the automatic Champions League place. Lens lost 1-0 against Nice for their first home league defeat and second overall.


PSG visits both Monaco and Marseille this month and is at Marseille in the French Cup, as well as takes on Bayern Munich in the first leg of their round-of-16 encounter in the Champions League on February 14.


Earlier, Marseille extended its unbeaten run to 10 games overall. Marseille scored in the 58th when Nantes central defender Joao Victor put the ball into his own net when tackling on-rushing winger Cengiz Ünder inside the penalty area. New signing Azzedine Ounahi, a midfielder with World Cup semifinalst Morocco, added the second goal in stoppage time on his Marseille debut.


Nantes had not conceded a goal in their seven previous games. Marseille has won seven of its past eight league matches under coach Igor Tudor. Striker Gaetan Laborde netted for the second straight game as eighth-place Nice handed Lens its first league defeat since October 9.


(with PTI inputs)