Paris Saint-Germain extended their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table to 11 points after a last-gasp 2-1 win over Brest on Saturday evening.
Ligue 1
Result: Brest 1-2 Paris Saint-Germain
Date: 11 March 2023
Venue: Stade Francis Le Blé
PSG continued to be without Neymar, as Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi were joined by Carlos Soler upfront after the defeat to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League.
The Parisians were on the front foot early on and Soler came close to giving them the lead with a volley from Messi's cross that was parried into the post by goalkeeper Marco Bizot.
Christophe Galtier's charges carried on to create the better chance with a dominant display and Soler eventually broke the deadlock eight minutes before the interval with a strike from the rebound that went in off the crossbar after Bizot could not hold onto a shot by Mbappe.
Brest had a quick response from a counter-attack, as Franck Honorat levelled matters on the stroke of half-time after racing past Sergio Ramos and fired a shot beyond goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG were desperate to restore their lead coming from the break and Messi came close to doing just that ten minutes in with a half-volley on the edge of the box that dragged just wide of the far post.
The game opened up after that with Brest also threatening but Messi had another good opportunity ten minutes later for the visitors but his curling shot was kept out by the out-stretched arm of Bizot in the bottom corner.
PSG upped their intensity and Nuno Mendes was the latest to get a golden chance 20 minutes before time after a through ball by Mbappe but he was denied by Bizot from point-blank range.
Galtier reached out to his bench in the closing stages as Vitinha and Hugo Ekitike provided the fresh legs in midfield and in attack in places of Fabian Ruiz and Soler.
The Parisians had the momentum in the dying minutes and Mbappe snatched the winner in second-half stoppage time after he rounded Bizot from a flick on by Messi and scored into a gaping net.
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