Kylian Mbappé scored an injury time penalty on Wednesday to see Paris Saint-Germain win 2-1 against Strasbourg in Ligue 1. Mbappé returned to action ten days after scoring a hat-trick in the final, but saw the South Americans win in a penalty shootout . PSG had Neymar sent off for two yellow cards after the Brazilian’s unfortunate return after his country’s elimination in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Captain Marquinhos had put the hosts ahead with an early header, but the Brazilian defender scored an own goal after 51 minutes as some of the PSG stars appeared to have a post-Qatar hangover.
Neymar was booked for a sulky slap to the face of a Strasbourg player, then earned a second for a blatant dive in the penalty area just after the hour mark.
Mbappé was a constant threat to PSG but failed to find the target with two clear chances.
But deep into second half stoppage time, he was brought down in the penalty area and converted the winner from the spot in the 96th minute.
After the match, Mbappé said of the World Cup defeat: “I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.
“As I said to my teammates, there is no reason why the club should pay the price for the failure of the national team. They are two very different situations,” he added.
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi was absent from PSG’s line-up following his World Cup winning exploits.
The victory puts PSG eight points ahead of Lens, who must beat Nice on Thursday to keep up.
PSG also announced that their 30-year-old Italian midfielder Marco Verratti has extended his stay at the club until 2026.
In other fixtures, Lille beat 10-man Clermont 2-0 thanks to an Angel Gomes penalty and a late Mohamed Bayo settler added deep in time.
Lyon defeated Brest 4-2 as they progressed to the European places.
Memories of Thierry Henry
France may have had a glimpse of the future earlier on Wednesday when 17-year-old Monaco striker Eliesse Ben Seghir secured all three points in a 3-2 win over Auxerre on his Ligue 1 debut.
Thierry Henry was two months younger when he scored his first double for Monaco against Lens in 1995, aged 17 years and 8 months.
Ben Seghir, who will not turn 18 until February, came on in the second half as a substitute for Wissam Ben Yedder, who had scored from the spot just before half-time but was substituted anyway.
The newcomer unleashed his first goal within 12 minutes with an unstoppable shot to put Monaco 2-1 up.
He then delivered a solo effort to enjoy and delivered a curling winner from outside the box to make it 3-2.
After the final whistle, the Monaco players led Ben Seghir to be serenaded by the away fans on a night that will live long in the teen’s memory.
The victory lifts Monaco to fifth place with 30 points.
Ben Seghir grew up in Saint Tropez but is of Moroccan descent and has yet to decide who he will represent internationally, although he has played for France under the age of 18.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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