Lionel Messi was greeted with a variety of reactions upon his return from suspension when he played for PSG in their match against Ajaccio, which they won 5-0 at home on Saturday. This brought PSG closer to a record 11th French league title.
At the Parc des Princes, Fabian Ruiz scored the first goal on the 22nd minute, then Achraf Hakimi added a second goal before Kylian Mbappe scored two goals just after halftime.
A late scuffle between Hakimi and Ajaccio midfielder Thomas Mangani resulted in both players receiving red cards. Mohamed Youssouf added insult to injury for the Corsicans by scoring an own goal that led to PSG’s fifth goal of the match.
After extending their advantage over second-placed Lens to six points, Paris Saint-Germain just needs four points from their next three Ligue 1 matches to clinch the championship. These matches are against Auxerre, Strasbourg, and Clermont.
“The players were very committed to putting on a good performance,” the coach said. According to the head coach of PSG, Christophe Galtier, “They want to be champions and they realize that Lens aren’t giving up and that a misstep could raise the pressure.”
When Messi’s name was called out prior to kickoff after he had been banned by the club for the game the previous weekend due to an unapproved travel to Saudi Arabia, it prompted a mixture of whistles and applause from the crowd. Messi was barred from playing in the game.
The Argentine once again received boos for his early touches in what was most likely his farewell appearance in Paris before a move that has been rumored to go to Saudi Arabia for the seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or.
“So there are whistles, but very quickly a large part of the stadium made sure to drown them out to support Leo,” said Galtier. “So that’s what’s happening.”
“He maintained his concentration with the intent to enliven the game and create opportunities.” Because he has worked his way up through the ranks, he is accustomed to dealing with challenging circumstances.
Lens was able to maintain an improbable championship challenge because to PSG’s three losses in their previous four home games, but Ajaccio showed little opposition as their relegation to Ligue 2 was guaranteed despite the fact that they were playing their final game.
Ruiz, who plays for Spain, received the ball after it had been deflected into his path by Danilo. The midfielder for Spain took a couple of deft moves before completing the goal calmly for his second goal in as many games.
The goal was allowed to stand in spite of the fact that the France striker used his arm to control the ball in the build-up to the goal. Hakimi then swept in the rebound after Mbappe’s shot was parried by Francois-Joseph Sollacaro.
Mbappe scored his 25th goal of the season early in the second half, putting the ball past Sollacaro following a scramble in the area to reclaim his position as the league’s leading scorer for this campaign. This is the fourth time Mbappe has reached this milestone.
Then, a few minutes later, he delivered an outstanding first-time volley to lash in PSG’s fourth goal. This came after a long ball forward from Sergio Ramos rebounded off the head of a defender who was backing up.
Youssouf made matters worse for himself by redirecting a shot by Marquinhos into his own net at the 73rd minute, and both teams concluded the game with 10 players each after a challenge on Messi sparked an unnecessary altercation.
After getting into a confrontation with Mangani that also led to his departure, Hakimi was shown a red card for the second time in as many games, the first of which saw him sent from the match against Lorient two weeks ago.
Habib Diallo, a forward from Senegal, scored within the first minute of a Ligue 1 game for the third time this year when he scored both goals in Strasbourg’s 2-0 win against Nice. Nice was playing host to Strasbourg.
The 20 goals scored by Diallo this season were enough to take Strasbourg to their fourth victory in their last five matches and lift them six points clear of the zone indicating they are in danger of relegation.
Since January, when Strasbourg had only one victory in their previous 18 games and were in second-to-last place in the standings, he has scored more than two-thirds of his goals.
After only forty seconds of play, he scored his first goal of the match against Nice after controlling Ibrahima Sissoko’s floating pass over the defense and directing it past Kasper Schmeichel.
After Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was hauled down in the penalty area by Jordan Lotomba, Abdoulaye Diallo added a second goal from the penalty spot sixty minutes into the match.
He is the first player to represent Strasbourg in a top-flight season to score 20 goals since the 1977–1978 campaign.