Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) beat Toulouse 2-1 on Saturday, February 4 to further strengthen their dominance in the table in Ligue 1. Lionel Messi came to his best in the second half in PSG’s Saturday night win vs 12th-placed Toulouse even if they looked listless for most part of the match. It was a typical Messi goal which came in the 57th minute of the match via a curling strike as Morocco right-back Achraf Hakimi provided a brilliant assist. Hakimi had helped PSG earlier draw level with Toulouse after Branco van de Boomen had given lead to his side in the match in 20th minute.
Not to forget, PSG were playing without star French striker Kylian Mbappe and Brazil’s Neymar. In their absence, PSG relied heavily on Messi who finally delivered to ensure their campaign was right on track in the tournament. That was Messi’s 15th goal this season. In 24 matches this season for PSG, he has scored 15 goals and made 14 assists.
Watch Messi’s goal below:
Este angulo del gol de Messi al Toulouse _pic.twitter.com/hj0Gk9J6kn— Mati ___ (@matiasm_02) February 4, 2023
PSG are battling injury issues with Mbappe ruled out for a minimum of three weeks due to thigh trouble while Neymar has missed his second consecutive game as he is getting treatment for a sore adductor. Portugal midfielder Renato Sanches tool left the match in the 13 minute due to a thigh injury to make matters worse for PSG.
The came under massive pressure when Van den Boomen scored in the 20th minute through a free kick. PSG has already lost 2 and drawn one match in their last 5 encounters and it seems another upset was loading. Thanks to Hakimi in the ’38 and Messi in ’57, PSG managed to avoid the defeat. They have now jumped to 54 points, 8 clear of Marsielle who are on 36 points, and sit at second spot.
