Lionel Messi scores the winner in PSG victory over Toulouse

Coupe de France is the only title missing from Messi's collection

LIGUE 1 Lionel Messi scores the winner in PSG victory over Toulouse

Faruq Ibrahim 18:41 - 04.02.2023

Lionel Messi was the only one of PSG's three superstar forwards to start the game and the Argentine inspired his side to a 2-1 win.

PSG avoided a potential banana skin in Toulouse, going behind first before they came back and led for a 2-1 victory.

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

They hosted mid-table Toulouse at the Parc des Princes, and they attempted to pick up back-to-back league wins for the first time since before the World Cup break.

Toulouse went ahead in the game first in the 20th minute off a strike from Branco Van den Boomen. The home side responded in the 38th minute when Achraf Hakimi tied the game 1-1.

Lionel Messi put PSG ahead for the first time in the 58th minute to put his team ahead 2-1. PSG did not manage to add to their tally on the day, but they finished with their second league win in as many games.

PSG, with the win, extended their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 standings to eight points. 

How it happened 

PSG started brightly, with youngster Hugo Ekitikite missing a good chance to score early on, but it was Toulouse who struck the first blow.

Van den Boomen tricked PSG’s wall after an awarded freekick, firing a low-driven shot that crept under the upstretched PSG bodies that passed for a barrier to put the underdogs ahead.

Hakimi was in inspired form on the night as he danced through Toulouse defenders before momentarily halting at the edge of the box to load a shot guided into the bottom left post.

The Moroccan turned provider for the third goal of the game and PSG’s second, setting up Lionel Messi at the edge of the box, who in turn fired the ball past Maxime Dupe in goal for Le Tef Les Pitchouns to put Christophe Gaitier's side ahead.

Tags: