Lionel Messi netted the 60th free-kick of his career as Paris Saint-Germain reclaimed top spot in Ligue 1 with a 2-1 win over OGC Nice on Saturday night.
Ligue 1
Result: Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 Nice
Date: 01 October 2022
Venue: Parc des Princes
PSG coach Christopher Galtier made four changes from the win over Olympique Lyon before the break, as Hugo Ekitike started ahead of Kylian Mbappe while Vitinha, Juan Bernat and Nordi Mukiele were also recalled.
The home side enjoyed a lot of the ball in the early stages but they struggled to carve out any serious chances from open play in the first 15 minutes.
That all changed in the 28th minute when Messi opened the scoring with a superb curling free-kick that left Nice goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel with no chance.
PSG went close to adding a second goal in the 37th minute as Neymar tried his luck with a free-kick, but the Brazilian's effort sailed just over the crossbar.
Schmeichel did ensure Nice went into the break only goal behind, as the former Leicester City shot-stopper produced a fine save to deny Messi a second goal just before the interval.
Two minutes into the second half, the away restored parity as the PSG defence failed to deal with Youcef Atal's cross in the box, which allowed Gaetan Laborde to fire past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Galtier responded with a double change on the hour mark, as Mbappe and Nuno Mendes replaced Ektike and Bernat while Nice threw on Nicolas Pepe and Kephren Thuram.
Mbappe made his introduction count as the Frenchman bagged the winning goal for the defending with seven minutes left on the clock after turning home a cut-back from Mukiele.
The win took PSG back to the summit of the Ligue 1 standings, as they remain one of two sides yet to taste defeat this season.
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