mettablog
Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe unsurprisingly took centre stage on Saturday evening, as Paris Saint-Germain got the better of Saint-Etienne in the French capital.
Mauricio Pochettino’s troops marked their return to action a short time ago, eyeing a bounce-back result after being put to the sword in alarming fashion at Nantes last time out.
And, to their credit, when all was said and done, this is precisely what the evening’s hosts managed, courtesy of a 3-1 triumph.
After Saint-Etienne opened the scoring at the Parc des Princes on the quarter of an hour mark, PSG levelled things up just shy of the interval, when Lionel Messi’s inch perfect through ball was slotted home by Kylian Mbappe:
The vision from Lionel Messi 😍
Kylian Mbappe finds the equaliser for PSG but this one is all about the genius wearing number 30 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Mx0w5K1qmi
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 26, 2022
And the attacking partners in crime were back at it once more on the other side of the break, as a moment of magic on the part of Messi saw the Argentine tee up Mbappe once more, to pick out the far corner of the visitors’ net in style:
It’s another assist for Messi, it’s another goal for Mbappe 🤝
The footwork in the build-up, the far post finish, beautiful goal! pic.twitter.com/zIhtK2nJp9
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 26, 2022
There was still time for Mbappe to show off his creative talents, too, as the Frenchman’s sumptuous outside-of-the-boot delivery from the left flank allowed Danilo to nod home a 3rd for the hosts, rounding out the evening’s scoring in the process:
Oh stop it, Kylian Mbappe 😵
Already has two goals, so he throws a sublime outside-of-the-boot assist into the mix!
The technique… pic.twitter.com/12gjaUZf2V
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 26, 2022
Mbappe matches Ibra
And the latest attacking exploits put forth by PSG’s starring duo have since given rise to a head-turning pair of statistics.
First, it has been revealed that Lionel Messi, considered as being in the midst of something of a down season by his own sky-high standards, has now racked up more assists than any other player across Europe’s top-5 leagues since the turn of the year.
Not only that, but the Argentine icon has climbed to 2nd in the assist charts across the season as a whole, now trailing only Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller:
⚠️ | QUICK STAT
Lionel Messi has now provided 6 league assists in 2022 – at least two more than any other player in the top 5 leagues this year.
Looking at the entire 2021/22 season, Thomas Müller (16) is the only player in the top 5 leagues with more assists than Messi (10). pic.twitter.com/YIYrOhEUuF
— SofaScore (@SofaScoreINT) February 26, 2022
Kylian Mbappe, meanwhile, has too etched his name ever further into the history books of PSG.
This comes with the French international having moved level with Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the 2nd top scorer in the club’s famed history, now trailing only Edinson Cavani in the same category:
156 – Kylian Mbappé equals Zlatan Ibrahimovic as Paris’ second all-time top scorer in all competitions, with 156 goals. Historical. #PSGASSE pic.twitter.com/TwSSFMR4ms
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) February 26, 2022
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Read more: 101greatgoals.com
