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Lionel Messi scored as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) stretched their Ligue 1 lead to five points with a 3-1 win at Montpellier. Despite Kylian Mbappe limping off the pitch.
Mbappe, who also missed a penalty, held his left thigh as he was replaced after 20 minutes. But coach Christophe Galtier said the France forward had damaged his knee.
“It’s a knock on the knee and it hurts behind the thigh,” Galtier said. The France forward was handed a reprieve and allowed to take the penalty again, only for the Montpellier goalkeeper to deny him for a second time.
PSG, who had lost their two previous away games and were held to a last-gasp home draw by Reims on Sunday, were much improved and were rewarded in the 55th minute, when Fabian Ruiz volleyed home from Hugo Ekitike’s headed pass.
Fabian was the provider 17 minutes later, finding Messi with a laser-sharp pass for the Argentine forward to beat Lecomte with a low shot from close range.
Arnaud Nordin pulled one back for Montpellier, but 16-year-old midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery, who was born two years after Messi made his professional debut, put the result beyond doubt at the end of a counter-attack.
Elsewhere, Marseille claimed a 2-0 victory at Nantes to leapfrog Lens, who dropped their first points at home in a 1-0 defeat by Nice, into second place.
Azzedine Ounahi celebrated his first match for Marseille after joining from Angers with a cool finish following a spectacular dribble to add to Joao Victor’s own goal.
With 46 points, Marseille lead third-placed Lens by one point.
Joao Cancelo needed little time to make an impact for Bayern Munich as he helped his new team reach the quarter-finals of the German Cup with a 4-0 win at Mainz.
The Portugal full-back started on the right wing one day after joining on loan from Manchester City and set up Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to open the scoring in the 17th minute.
It was Bayern’s first win of 2023 after they restarted the Bundesliga with three draws, and the first time since 2020 the Bavarian powerhouse reached the German Cup last eight.
Cancelo made the most of some passive defending from Mainz as he lofted a cross to the far post for Choupo-Moting, then Thomas Muller set up Jamal Musiala to shoot in off the right post after half an hour.
It got worse for Mainz before the break when captain Silvan Widmer had to go off injured and Choupo-Moting set up Leroy Sane to score.
Mainz improved drastically for the second half, but Bayern withstood the pressure and Joshua Kimmich delivered a free-kick for Alphonso Davies to complete the scoring with a header in the 83rd minute.
Mainz coach Bo Svensson had been sent off just before Davies’ goal and defender Alexander Hack followed with his second yellow card in the 86th minute.
Also in the German Cup, defending champions RB Leipzig defeated Hoffenheim 3-1 to progress to the quarter-finals, while Union Berlin and Stuttgart booked their places on Tuesday.
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