Neymar suffers injury before Lionel Messi scores brilliant stoppage-time winner for PSG
PSG's Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Lille at the Parc des Princes stadium
By Aimee Lewis, CNN
Who else but Lionel Messi? The Argentine struck a magnificent late winner for Paris Saint-Germain Sunday to secure a thrilling 4-3 comeback win over Lille.
The downside for the Parisian club, however, was that Neymar was taken off on a stretcher in the second half with a suspected ankle injury.
The win ends PSG’s three-game losing run and moves the team eight points clear at the top of Ligue 1, although second-placed Marseille plays later Sunday.
Early goals from Kylian Mbappé — who on his return from injury ended the match with two goals — and Neymar had given PSG a 2-0 lead after just 17 minutes. But Bafodé Diakité, Jonathan David and Jonathan Bamba scored for the visitors to put them 3-2 up.
Five minutes into the second half, Neymar was kicked on his calf and fell badly on his right ankle. The 31-year-old could be seen wincing as he held his right foot while being carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
Mbappé leveled matters in the 87th minute, converting Juan Bernat’s cross, and that appeared to be that until Messi won a stoppage-time free-kick.
From 22 yards out, the Argentine struck his free-kick brilliantly, curling it into the bottom corner for his 11th league goal of the season.
“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. We are a different team, we can get by all the time,” Mbappe told Prime Video, per Reuters.
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