Lionel Messi scores the winning goal for Paris Saint-Germain to secure the victory and the top spot in the 2022-2023 Ligue 1 table.
The World Cup Champion had to carry his club team Paris Saint-Germain against Toulouse with his winning kick at the 58th minute mark on Saturday at the Parc des Princes. The 35 year-old was ready to take his revenge after PSG was eliminated at the round of 16 of the French Cup over Marseille. Visit for more Ligue 1 France stories here!
“He actually took matters into his own hands,” said former PSG Player Eric Rabesandratana. “Usually, since he’s a pretty nice guy, I think he leaves room for the other two, almost out of politeness. Anyway, I see it that way. And there, he obviously had more influence; he touched more balls, moved a lot more, tried a lot more things. It’s paradoxical, but it’s good to see him like that too. It’s reassuring.”
The victory extended Paris sides lead over Marseille, which has a game in hand, at the top of Ligue 1 to eight points, despite the Paris Saint-Germain’s side guided by Christophe Galtier having only registered two victories in its last five Ligue 1 matches. With Brazilian International Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappe both missing the action due to injury, Messi had the bigger role to deal with and not just being the leader, he needed to step up and he did it in a dominating passion.
Toulouse’s Branco van den Boomen opened the match with an unexpected score in the 20th minute to lift his club over the league-leader. However, the Moroccan international and World Cup phenomenal player Achraf Hakimi stepped up and leveled the game for the host. And in the 58th minute, Messi registered his name on the scoresheet via an impressive curl at the bottom corner from outside the area to record his 10th goal in Ligue 1 this season and his third within the five league games. “Lionel [Messi] was our engine, he scored and created chances. I ask the team that they play for him,” said Galtier in an interview. “His teammates need to make more efforts defensively to give him more freedom to create movement and opportunities.”
The South American international and Toulouse forward Gabriel Suazo praised Messi after the match and said it was a “beautiful thing that football gives,” despite his team losing, he is still glad to share the pitch with the Argentina Legend.
“Simply, they are beautiful things that football gives you. You have to take advantage of them, enjoy them. Obviously, on the pitch, you always want to be more important, better and for your team to win, but having Leo in front is always a pleasure and a source of pride to be able to play against him. He is the best player in the world for a reason and he has those characteristics. Unfortunately, due to a goal from him we couldn’t get the tie. I think we created several situations to be able to at least get a draw. These types of players solve matches suddenly, with a touch, with a shot that you don’t even expect. This is how these players are who make a difference in details.”
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