French Ligue 1
PSGParis Saint Germain3NantesNantes1

Paris St-Germain 3-1 Nantes: Lionel Messi opens Ligue 1 account as 10-man leaders win

Lionel Messi scores his first Ligue 1 goal for Paris St-Germain.
Lionel Messi's previous PSG goals came against Manchester City and RB Leipzig in the Champions League

Lionel Messi scored his first goal in Ligue 1 as 10-man Paris St-Germain moved 13 points clear at the top with a late rally to beat Nantes.

Messi curled home left-footed from 20 yards three minutes from time.

Kylian Mbappe had given PSG an early lead but the hosts were reduced to 10 men when goalkeeper Keylor Navas raced from his box to foul Ludovic Blas.

Nantes levelled via Randal Kolo Muani's backheel but Dennis Appiah's freak own goal and Messi's measured shot won it.

The victory was Les Parisiens' 12th in 14 league games and it looked set to be a routine affair after they dominated the first half, buoyed by Mbappe's second-minute opener.

However, Nantes keeper Albon Lafont kept the visitors in it with a string of saves to thwart Messi and Neymar before his opposite number Navas saw red for a reckless rush of blood.

His replacement Sergio Rico, brought on for Neymar, saved well from Muani's header but could not keep out the Nantes forward's improvised rebound.

But Appiah's interception of a Messi pass looped over Lafont from 20 yards before the former Barcelona playmaker - whose three previous PSG goals had all come in the Champions League - broke his domestic duck in his sixth Ligue 1 game.

Line-ups

PSG

Formation 4-3-3

  • 1NavasBooked at 65mins
  • 2Hakimi
  • 24Kehrer
  • 22Diallo
  • 14Bernat
  • 27Gueye
  • 8ParedesSubstituted forDaniloat 89'minutes
  • 6VerrattiBooked at 71minsSubstituted forWijnaldumat 75'minutes
  • 30Messi
  • 7Mbappé
  • 10NeymarSubstituted forRicoat 68'minutes

Substitutes

  • 9Icardi
  • 11Di María
  • 15Danilo
  • 16Rico
  • 17Dagba
  • 18Wijnaldum
  • 21Herrera
  • 25Nuno Mendes
  • 28Ebimbe

Nantes

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Lafont
  • 24CorchiaSubstituted forAppiahat 42'minutes
  • 21Castelletto
  • 3Girotto
  • 2Pereira da SilvaSubstituted forMerlinat 58'minutes
  • 18MoutoussamySubstituted forCyprienat 77'minutes
  • 5ChirivellaBooked at 40mins
  • 11CocoSubstituted forGeubbelsat 77'minutes
  • 10BlasBooked at 83mins
  • 23Kolo Muani
  • 7CoulibalySubstituted forBukariat 58'minutes

Substitutes

  • 8Cyprien
  • 12Appiah
  • 14Traoré
  • 19Geubbels
  • 26Bukari
  • 29Merlin
  • 30Petric
  • 31Manvelyan
  • 33M'Bemba
Referee:
Jeremy Stinat
Attendance:
47,777

Match Stats

Home TeamPSGAway TeamNantes
Possession
Home66%
Away34%
Shots
Home14
Away12
Shots on Target
Home7
Away6
Corners
Home4
Away3
Fouls
Home8
Away12

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Paris Saint Germain 3, Nantes 1.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Paris Saint Germain 3, Nantes 1.

  3. Post update

    Attempt missed. Danilo Pereira (Paris Saint Germain) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Kylian Mbappé with a cross following a corner.

  4. Post update

    Corner, Paris Saint Germain. Conceded by Andrei Girotto.

  5. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint Germain) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.

  6. Substitution

    Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Danilo Pereira replaces Leandro Paredes.

  7. Goal!

    Goal! Paris Saint Germain 3, Nantes 1. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint Germain) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Kylian Mbappé following a fast break.

  8. Post update

    Attempt missed. Lionel Messi (Paris Saint Germain) left footed shot from outside the box is too high from a direct free kick.

  9. Post update

    Lionel Messi (Paris Saint Germain) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  10. Post update

    Foul by Andrei Girotto (Nantes).

  11. Booking

    Ludovic Blas (Nantes) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  12. Post update

    Georginio Wijnaldum (Paris Saint Germain) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  13. Post update

    Foul by Ludovic Blas (Nantes).

  14. Goal!

    Own Goal by Dennis Appiah, Nantes. Paris Saint Germain 2, Nantes 1.

  15. Substitution

    Substitution, Nantes. Wylan Cyprien replaces Samuel Moutoussamy.

  16. Substitution

    Substitution, Nantes. Willem Geubbels replaces Marcus Coco.

  17. Goal!

    Goal! Paris Saint Germain 1, Nantes 1. Randal Kolo Muani (Nantes) right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box to the centre of the goal.

  18. Post update

    Attempt saved. Randal Kolo Muani (Nantes) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Quentin Merlin with a cross.

  19. Substitution

    Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Georginio Wijnaldum replaces Marco Verratti.

  20. Post update

    Corner, Nantes. Conceded by Juan Bernat.

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Saturday 20th November 2021

As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1PSG14121132141837
2Rennes1474324121225
3Lens1373325141124
4Nice1373323101323
5Marseille136522012823
6Monaco145451918119
7Montpellier145452121019
8Lyon135442121019
9Strasbourg135352418618
10Angers134631916318
11Nantes145361919018
12Lille144551821-317
13Lorient133641320-715
14Troyes133461321-813
15Clermont133461626-1013
16Reims132651417-312
17Brest132651621-512
18Bordeaux132651827-912
19Saint-Étienne131661528-139
20Metz131571327-148
View full French Ligue 1 table

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