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Sublime Messi free kick at 90+5' gives PSG a wild 4-3 victory at the death

By Connor Fleming February 19, 2023
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Messi, Mbappé and Neymar were all on the scoresheet for PSG.
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PSG's wildly inconsistent form since club football restarted was perfectly encapsulated by Sunday's riotous 4-3 win over Lille at the Parc des Princes.

The PSG Ultras ran the gamut of demanding a statue for Kylian Mbappé, calling for the heads of all these overpaid pretenders and finally celebrating deliriously as chants of "Messi, Messi, Messi" reverberated around Paris. Just another day for les Parisiens.

The home side looked set for a stroll after Mbappé and Neymar scored inside 17 minutes.

Back in the starting lineup after nursing an injury that forced him to start on the bench against Bayern Munich last Tuesday, Mbappé used all greatest attributes to full effect on PSG's opening goal.

After getting credit for the easiest of assists on Mbappé's solo effort, Neymar doubled PSG's advantage with a slapstick goal. This would be the Brazilian's last major contribution before coming off with an ankle injury in the 51st minute. He left the pitch in tears, which means absolutely nothing when it comes to Neymar (he also cried during the World Cup but his injury wasn't serious), but remember that the return leg against Bayern is on Mar. 8.  

But after establishing that 2-0 lead, PSG conceded three straight. First, in the 24th minute, Bafodé Diakité snapped a header off Andre Gomes' cross. Then Jonathan David equalized from the penalty spot in the 58th minute (the Canadian's 15th league goal of the campaign). Jonathan Bamba gave Lille an improbable 3-2 advantage in the 69th as the mood inside the stadium turned foul.

PSG looked destined for another defeat as we approached the final minutes, but Lille's American fullback Timothy Weah got badly beaten by Juan Bernat in the 87th and he teed up Mbappé for the equalizer.

That wasn't the end of the script. Five minutes into stoppage time, Messi — who'd been the quietest of PSG's front three — stood over a free-kick central to goal and whipped an effort off the inside of the post and in.

Watch it again. 

"The match was not great, we made a lot of mistakes but we have shown that even when the context is not favorable, we can get through," Mbappé told Prime Video after the game. "We are a different team, we can get by all the time."

PSG moves eight points clear of Marseille with the victory, but les Phocéens have a game in hand against Toulouse later on Sunday.

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