Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), despite trailing 1-0 at the break, found a way to squeeze out a 2-1 win vs Lille in Ligue 1 action.
Canadian international Jonathan David — the league’s leading scorer at just 21 years old — put Lille up first, but Angel Di Maria, Marquinhos and Neymar turned up the jets in the final 15 minutes to dictate the result.
Marquinhos event it at 1-1 in the 74th minute before Di Maria’s winner in the 88th minute.
David has 8 Ligue 1 goals so far this season. He has more Ligue 1 goals than Messi, Neymar, Mbappe combined (6)
PSG lead the league with 31 points on 12 games; Lille are now in 11th with 15 points.
Di Maria has played a direct role in 121 goals in 179 league matches for PSG, third of all players in Ligue 1 since his arrival in 2015/16 season.
Kylian Mbappe was out due to ear infection, but the more discussed story post-match seems to be the subbing out of Messi at halftime.
Messi seemed to leave at the break due to a muscle problem. Mauro Icardi replaced him vs Lille.
Messi has yet to score for PSG in Ligue 1 so far (5 games). He has attempted the most shots without scoring a single goal in Ligue 1 this season (15)
This is the first time Messi has failed to score or assist at least one league goal by the start of November since 2005/2006, his second season of his career.
Messi had missed training with the team on Thursday, making for Friday’s turn of events not as surprising as it could have been.
PSG dominated the possession battle 60-40, but Lille had 5 corner opportunities compared to 4 for PSG.
Post-match vs Lille, Pochettino confirmed that Messi’s halftime substitution was a “precaution” following a muscle issue. The forward should be back for their next match against Leipzig
Lille have Champions League action, against Sevilla (2 November) before a Ligue 1 fixture vs Angers (6 November).
PSG have a mid-week UEFA Champions League match vs RB Leipzig (3 November) before they’re back in Ligue 1 action a few days later vs Bordeaux (6 November) next week.