Messi scores as PSG extends their lead to 5 points; Mbappe is injured

Lionel Messi scored and Kylian Mbappé missed a penalty twice before being hurt as Paris Saint-Germain triumphed 3-1 at Montpellier to establish a five-point lead in the French league.

Mbappé collapsed holding his leg just below his right knee and hobbled off in the 21st minute, having previously missed a penalty twice and fired the rebound over an open goal on his second attempt.

It was unknown what had caused his injuries. As he headed to the locker room, cameras captured him caressing the back of his left leg.

Lionel Messi scored and Kylian Mbappé missed a penalty twice before being hurt as Paris Saint-Germain triumphed 3-1 at Montpellier to establish a five-point lead in the French league.

Mbappé collapsed holding his leg just below his right knee and hobbled off in the 21st minute, having previously missed a penalty twice and fired the rebound over an open goal on his second attempt.

It was unknown what had caused his injuries. As he headed to the locker room, cameras captured him caressing the back of his left leg.

PSG coach Christophe Galtier told Canal Plus that “he got a hit behind the knee,” but that the injury did not seem to be significant.

“Does it look like a bruise? We do not yet know. “It doesn’t seem to be significant,” Galtier added. “We’re not concerned.”

Argentina’s Messi scored PSG’s second goal in the 72nd minute with an usually clean finish after being set up by Fabián Ruiz, who put PSG ahead in the 55th.

Arnaud Nordin equalised in the 89th minute, and with the home side driving forward, 16-year-old replacement Warren Zare-Emery scored his first goal for the club in stoppage time to make it 3-1.

“I’m really thrilled since it’s my first goal in the top division,” Zare-Emery remarked after becoming PSG’s youngest scorer. In March, the midfielder will be 17 years old.

PSG is five points ahead of Marseille, who triumphed 2-0 at Nantes to move one point clear of Lens in the race for the automatic Champions League ticket.

Lens was defeated 1-0 at home by Nice, its first home league loss and its second overall.

PSG travels to Monaco and Marseille this month for French Cup matches, as well as the opening leg of their Champions League round-of-16 match against Bayern Munich on February 14.

Earlier, Marseille extended their undefeated streak to ten games.

Marseille scored in the 58th minute after Nantes central defender Joao Victor tripped on-rushing winger Cengiz Ünder inside the penalty area and sent the ball into his own net. Azzedine Ounahi, a midfielder for World Cup semifinalist Morocco, scored in stoppage time on his Marseille debut.

Nantes has not surrendered a goal in its previous seven games. Igor Tudor’s Marseille has won seven of its last eight league games.

Gaetan Laborde scored for the second game in a row as Nice gave Lens its first league loss since October 9.

Fourth-place Monaco maintained their one-point lead over fifth-place Rennes with a 3-2 home victory over 19th-place Auxerre. Wissam Ben Yedder, a striker, and Eliesse Ben Seghir, a 17-year-old offensive midfielder, both scored for Monaco, which has 13 goals in its last four league games.

Rennes won 3-0 at home against 18th-place Strasbourg, with forward Amine Gouiri scoring twice, while Lyon drew 0-0 at home against Brest.

Folarin Balogun, the English striker who equalised in stoppage time when Reims drew 1-1 against PSG on Sunday, scored a hat-trick in his team’s 4-2 victory over Lorient to climb to the top of the scoring lists. His 14 goals are one more than PSG forward Kylian Mbappé.

Balogun, who began his career at Premier League side Arsenal, scored three goals against goalkeeper Vito Mannone, who also began his career at Arsenal, and came close to scoring a fourth at the finish.

Thijs Dallinga, a Dutch striker, scored his team’s first goal in a 4-1 victory against Troyes after scoring two goals for Toulouse the previous weekend.

Clermont drew 0-0 at Lille, while Angers succumbed 2-1 at home to fellow struggler Ajaccio, who scored in the fourth minute of injury time via striker Mounam El Idrissy.

Angers has lost 13 consecutive matches, a French league record, and has won just two of 21 games this season.