Paris Saint-Germain Steal the Points at Home to Lyon!

Mauro Icardi’s 93rd minute strike ensures a 2-1 victory for PSG. Lionel Messi makes his home debut, but is substituted in the second half.

Lionel Messi made his Ligue 1 home debut for Paris St-Germain but was taken off in the 2nd half as they went on to beat Olympique Lyonnais, to make it 6 wins from 6 games this season. Recent signing Messi forced a save from Anthony Lopes and then hit the angle of post and bar with a free-kick in the 1st half. However, the Argentinian looked well below his best in this game.

With the scores tied at 1-1, the 34-year-old was replaced by right-back Achraf Hakimi. Messi looked decidedly unhappy about being made to come off the pitch. The forward, who left Barcelona this summer, briefly said something to boss Mauricio Pochettino whilst walking past him to the bench. Messi was given a round of applause, but not a standing ovation by the PSG fans.

Lucas Paquetá swept in Karl Toko Ekambi’s low cross to give Peter Bosz’s Lyon side the lead. The midfielder connected brilliantly with the ball and finished past Gianluigi Donnarumma with an intelligent first-time shot.

However, Neymar equalised with a contentious penalty. He appeared to pull back Malo Gusto in the box but the teenage Lyon defender was penalised instead and a penalty kick was given. The Brazilian’s stuttering run caused Lopes to move too early and the attacker calmly slotted the ball home to level the scores at 1-1 on 54 minutes.

For a long time after Neymar’s penalty, it looked like the match was heading for a draw. However, another PSG substitute, Mauro Icardi, scored the injury-time winner, as he nodded in Kylian Mbappe’s cross with the clock showing 93 minutes!

The result sees PSG remain in 1st place in Ligue 1 on 18 points from 6 games. Lyon sit in 9th, with 8 points.