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Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) secured a routine 3-1 win over Montpellier to open up a five-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table on Wednesday night (1 February).
Fabian Ruiz, Lionel Messi and Warren Zaire-Emery each found the back of the net for PSG while Arnaud Nordin scored Montpellier’s consolation goal.
The Parisians were in total control of the game in the opening exchanges and won themselves a penalty just seven minutes in. Messi found Sergio Ramos with a delightful cross from a set-piece. The Spaniard was brought down by Christopher Jullien inside the box, prompting the referee to point to the spot.
Kylian Mbappe stepped up to take the penalty but failed to beat Benjamin Lecomte from the spot. The Frenchman’s night turned from bad to worse soon after, with him being taken off with a possible knee problem just past the 20-minute mark. Just two weeks before the Champions League Round of 16 first leg against Bayern Munich, Mbappe’s injury could give PSG some sleepless nights.
Ten minutes after Mbappe was taken off, Ramos left the field with a head injury, courtesy of a clash of heads he was involved in earlier. In the 34th minute, Messi seemingly fired PSG in front, but the VAR chalked off the goal for offside.
In the 52nd minute, Achraf Hakimi rippled the netting, and just like Messi, saw his goal ruled out for offside in the buildup. Three minutes later, Ruiz scored for PSG and the referee had no qualms about it. Hugo Ekitike claimed the assist as he set up Ruiz with a cross into the middle of the box.
In the 62nd minute, Ekitike came close to doubling his team’s advantage. Vitinha played a delightful throughball to Ekitike, and the young forward went for goal with a low shot. His effort beat Lecomte but clattered against the far post and went out of play.
Messi scored PSG’s second goal in the 72nd minute, cheekily beating Lecomte from close range after Ruiz found him with a throughball in front of the right post.
Montpellier ace Nordin cut PSG’s advantage in half with a delightful curling shot from outside the box in the 89th minute. The visitors, however, refused to give into the building pressure and restored their two-goal cushion via Zaire-Emery in the 92nd minute. The young midfielder dispatched a powerful strike from the right to find the bottom-left corner.
It was a confident display by most of PSG’s stars, but it was far from a perfect outing. Here are three PSG players who impressed and two who should have done better at the Stade de la Mosson on Wednesday.
Performed: Achraf Hakimi
Achraf Hakimi, one of the best fullbacks in the world, was back to his best against Montpellier. He tormented the hosts with his darting runs, linked up flawlessly with teammates, and expertly laid the ball off to Zaire-Emery in injury time. The substitute came inside from the right and applied a devastating finish to seal the win for PSG.
The Morocco international played three key passes, delivered two accurate crosses, won nine ground duels and completed five dribbles against Montpellier. Hakimi also performed crucial defensive actions when out of possession, recording three tackles and three interceptions.
Underperformed: Carlos Soler
Carlos Soler was arguably the weakest link in PSG’s midfield on Wednesday. For the most part, the Spaniard looked out of ideas when on the ball. He also never looked like unlocking the defense and was surprisingly weak in one-on-one tussles.
Soler lost possession 12 times, came out second-best in five of seven duels, committed two fouls, and misplaced his only attempted cross. He also misplaced a long ball and was dribbled past once.
Performed: Lionel Messi
After cutting a frustrating figure in the 1-1 draw with Reims, Lionel Messi was in familiar and devastating form on Wednesday night. Messi’s cheeky cross into the box in the seventh minute led to PSG’s penalty, which Mbappe failed to put away. The Argentine found the back of the net in the 34th minute, but VAR ruled the goal out after spotting an offside in the buildup.
Messi finally got his due in the 72nd minute, when he latched onto Ruiz’s pass and chipped the ball past the keeper and into the near-bottom corner. Messi also completed three dribbles, played two key passes, delivered two accurate long balls and won seven ground duels against Montpellier.
Underperformed: Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe alarmingly limped off the pitch in the 21st minute after possibly picking up a knee injury. Before doing so, he endured a pretty eventful night, failing to beat Lecomte from the spot not once but twice.
The Frenchman stepped up to take the resulting penalty after Ramos was brought down inside the Montpellier box in the seventh minute.
Lecomte saved Mbappe’s initial effort, but the VAR ordered a retake after the goalkeeper was spotted coming off his line a hair earlier than permitted. The PSG superstar went right with his second attempt and once again failed to beat Lecomte. He even failed to turn in the rebound, dragging it wide.
Penalty miss aside, Mbappe lost possession six times, misplaced his only attempted cross, and lost two ground duels.
Performed: Fabian Ruiz
Despite a drab showing in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Reims, Christophe Galtier chose to keep faith in Fabian Ruiz, giving him a starting role against Montpellier. The Frenchman’s decision paid off handsomely as Ruiz emerged as the most impressive player on the pitch.
In the 55th minute, Ruiz raised his leg high to connect with Ekitike’s layoff and guide it past Lecomte. Seventeen minutes later, the scorer turned provider, playing a delightful throughball to send Messi clear. The Argentine made no mistake poking it home.
Over the course of the night, Ruiz made two key passes, created a big chance, delivered three accurate long balls, and won four of five duels.
