Lionel Messi scored a 95th-minute free-kick to give Paris Saint-Germain a 4-3 win over Lille in an extraordinary Ligue 1 game on Sunday in which Kylian Mbappe scored twice but Neymar was taken off on a stretcher with an ankle injury.
Messi’s late winner came after PSG had squandered a two-goal lead and fallen 3-2 behind, with Mbappe grabbing a late equaliser before the Argentine’s stunning strike.
The result ends a run of three straight defeats for PSG and moves them seven points clear at the top from Monaco, who beat Brest 2-1 away later in the day.
However, Marseille can move back up to second place, and to within five points of the leaders, with a win at Toulouse on Sunday evening before they host PSG next weekend.
“We came through it. It wasn’t a great performance,” Mbappe told broadcaster Amazon Prime.
“We made lots of mistakes and lost concentration too often and against a quality side you pay dearly for that, but we showed that even when we are not at our best and the context is not exactly favourable we are a different team with different players and we can always find a way.”
Of immediate concern to the Parisians is the injury to Neymar, who looked to be in tears as he was helped onto a stretcher early in the second half after turning his right ankle.
The Brazilian’s fitness is now likely to dominate headlines in the run-up to next week’s Marseille showdown but also the second leg of PSG’s Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich on March 8.
