PSG

Lionel Messi scored in his first game since leading Argentina to the World Cup title as French league leader Paris Saint-Germain beat Angers 2-0.

Thuram doubled Nice’s lead in the 34th with a powerful shot. Striker Andy Delort added another for Nice before midfielder Téji Savanier pulled one back for the visitors with a fine free kick. But PSG was asleep for stretches of the game and Angers had two good chances before Messi’s goal. [a wild 3-3 draw](https://apnews.com/article/lionel-messi-argentina-win-world-cup-final-against-france-e13fc1886725a0fe4f9e053e16a061bc) on Dec. Rennes had two players sent off late on. His eighth league goal this season was initially disallowed for offside but then awarded following a video review.

Lionel Messi celebrated his return to competition after the World Cup by scoring a second-half goal as Paris St Germain extended their Ligue 1 lead to six ...

Scoring is good for my confidence, I have to continue like this," said Ekitike. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story Mukiele was again involved after the break as he played Messi through for the Argentine forward to find the back of the net with a right-foot effort from close range.

Lionel Messi scored on his return to club soccer after his FIFA 2022 World Cup win with Argentina as Paris Saint-Germain ran out 2-0 winners over Angers SCO ...

It was important for him to get back to action immediately and important for the team to get Leo back." A VAR check for offside ultimately proved unfounded and Messi was afforded his biggest cheer of the evening given that there was no fanfare for the returning champion in the capital of the beaten World Cup finalists' homeland. "He is in very good physical shape and he got an important goal for us. I think the whole team and the fans are all happy for him." Kylian Mbappe was missing as he returns to training after some deserved rest while Achraf Hakimi was suspended and Marco Verratti was nursing an injury. "He scored and we are all very happy for him.

Lionel Messi scored in Paris Saint-Germain's 2-0 win over Angers in Ligue 1 on Wednesday on his first appearance since leading Argentina to victory in the ...

Lionel Messi made his first appearance for Paris Saint-Germain since winning the World Cup with Argentina and scored in a 2-0 victory against Angers in ...

Messi had been rested for PSG's first three matches following the long break in the season caused by the World Cup but he returned to training in Paris a week ago and was back in the starting line-up for this match against Ligue 1's bottom side. The win, which came three and a half weeks after he captained Argentina to their World Cup final triumph on penalties against France in Qatar, saw PSG move six points clear at the top of the French table. Paris (AFP) – Lionel Messi made his first appearance for Paris Saint-Germain since winning the World Cup with Argentina and scored in a 2-0 victory against Angers in Ligue 1 on Wednesday.

Lionel Messi and Neymar have both been handed starts for PSG's Ligue 1 clash with Angers Wednesday night, but Kylian Mbappe remains out of the squad.

I'll be very attentive to what he's going to do, but we want him to be available for the next match.” WHAT THEY SAID?: Galtier had previously confirmed that Messi is ready for action after rounding into fitness in PSG training: "We're making sure he's ready for the next game. Messi has been in training for over a week now and manager Christophe Galtier confirmed that Messi would be thrown back into the XI as soon as he was available.

Lionel Messi celebrated his return to domestic competition after the World Cup by scoring a second-half goal as Paris Saint-Germain extended their Ligue 1 ...

In Italy, Milan crashed out of the Coppa Italia after a 1-0 home defeat to Torino. Vinícius Júnior could have won it for Real Madrid in extra time but his close-range shot was saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili. The two teams finished level at 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra time.

Paris Saint-Germain extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 with a routine 2-0 win over Angers, with a goal for the returning Lionel Messi.

Neymar, in a slightly deeper role, hangs back and slides a lovely outside of the boot pass into the path of Messi down the left flank. It's been coming; the hosts have controlled the early exchanges, and after Neymar picked it up in the right half-space and fed Mukiele, Ekitike made his run to the near post, and finished clinically. Paris, however, began to profit from the increased space opening up in the visiting half, as Neymar, Messi, Vitinha and Fabian were afforded more time on the ball. Three in three for Hugo Ekitike, as he sweeps home to give Paris an early lead. He finished with aplomb, but had a nervy two-minute wait as VAR checked the initial offside call. A slight miscommunication between Gianluigi Donnarumma and Juan Bernat had home fans momentarily worried, as both PSG players went for a ball played in behind the defence.

Lionel Messi made his first start for Paris Saint-Germain since winning the FIFA World Cup with Argentina and put in a superlative display as the champions ...

Bernardoni kept Mukiele out with a brilliant stop at the death (90'), and it ended 2-0. The last time les Scoïstes got so much as a point from this fixture was back in December 2015, when they held Paris to a goalless draw at the Stade Raymond Kopa. Ramos then gave the ball away to Bentaleb, but Marquinhos got his fellow defender out of trouble with a block (54'). Ekitiké should have made it two at the other end inside the hour, but he miscontrolled Juan Bernat's cut-back before sending a tame shot into Bernardoni's gloves (58'). PSG, playing a 3-4-3, dominated possession, but they had a scare soon after when Gigio Donnarumma raced off his line and missed a speculative ball forward, but Juan Bernat was there to mop up the Italy No.1's mess (15'). Messi was back but Kylian Mbappé was rested with Hugo Ekitiké getting the nod up front in his stead, and the youngster wasted little time in getting his name on the scoresheet, steering Nordi Mukiele's low cross home for 1-0 with his third goal in as many games (5').

Lionel Messi was crucial in the build-up for the first goal and scored the second as PSG beat Angers to go six points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

VAR, though, overturned the ruling, and Messi was awarded a goal on his return to club football after his heroics at Qatar 2022. Abdallah Sima had the best, blasting over from five yards out. PSG wasted little time taking the lead, carving through Angers with relative ease just five minutes in.

Lionel Messi celebrated his return to Paris Saint-Germain with a goal in his first game back since lifting the World Cup.

[lost in the league ](http://www.cnn.com/2023/01/02/football/psg-lens-ligue-1-football-spt-intl/index.html)for the first time this season last week, 3-1 away to Lens. [Pelé](http://www.cnn.com/2022/12/29/football/brazil-pele-soccer-died-intl-latam-spt/index.html) before the match, joining his teammates in wearing a t-shirt with the Brazilian’s face on it during the warmup. [Lionel Messi](http://www.cnn.com/2023/01/04/football/lionel-messi-psg-return-world-cup-ronaldo-spt-intl/index.html) celebrated his return to Paris Saint-Germain with a goal in his first game back since lifting the [World Cup](https://cnn.com/2022/12/18/football/argentina-france-world-cup-final-qatar-2022-spt-intl/index.html). The 20-year-old forward has impressed when given the chance this season and opened the scoring with a sweeping finish in the first half. [greatest finals ever](https://cnn.com/2022/12/19/football/argentina-france-best-world-cup-final-spt-intl/index.html). But the forward didn’t look to be suffering any hangover as he returned to action with a goal from close range in PSG’s 2-0 win against Angers on Wednesday.

Lionel Messi made a triumphant return in Paris Saint-Germain's win against Angers, Marseille beat Troyes to close the gap on Lens and Nice hit Montpellier ...

But Lorient were unable to hold on and Ben Yedder headed in from close range (90'), to claim his side a point. But Strasbourg turned the game on its head with quickfire goals from Sanjin Prcic (13') and Kevin Gameiro (16'). Arsenal loanee Pépé added another (56') and Andy Delort fired Nice's fourth 15-minutes from time. Franck Haise's men took the lead when Alexis Claude-Maurice scored for the second-straight league game (11'). "It was not easy to break down Strasbourg but we created many opportunities," explained Lens coach Franck Haise. Messi finished off Angers 18-minutes from time when he fired low past Paul Bernardoni to extend PSG's lead at the top to six points.

Lionel Messi is expected to play his first game for Paris Saint-Germain since his World Cup victory with Argentina.

City is looking to win the competition for the seventh time in 10 seasons and is coming off back-to-back wins over Chelsea in the league and FA Cup. Milan is third in Serie A and is coming off a disappointing 2-2 draw at home with Roma, when it squandered a two-goal advantage. The League Cup is proving to be a positive distraction for Forest and Wolves from their battle against relegation in the Premier League. Both teams are looking to rebound from losses in the Spanish league. City has already beaten Southampton 4-0 this season, however, and should recall Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, who were rested in the 4-0 FA Cup win over Chelsea on Sunday. Lionel Messi is expected to play his first game for Paris Saint-Germain since his World Cup victory with Argentina.

Lionel Messi scored in his first game since leading Argentina to the World Cup title as French league leader Paris Saint-Germain beat Angers 2-0.

Thuram doubled Nice's lead in the 34th with a powerful shot. Striker Andy Delort added another for Nice before midfielder Téji Savanier pulled one back for the visitors with a fine free kick. 18 and converted his penalty in the shootout. But PSG was asleep for stretches of the game and Angers had two good chances before Messi's goal. Nearly four weeks after the final against France in Qatar, Messi needed only five minutes to make an impact. He scored twice against France in a wild 3-3 draw on Dec.

Lionel Messi scored in his first game since leading Argentina to the World Cup title as French league leader Paris Saint-Germain beat Angers 2-0.

Thuram doubled Nice's lead in the 34th with a powerful shot. Striker Andy Delort added another for Nice before midfielder Téji Savanier pulled one back for the visitors with a fine free kick. 18 and converted his penalty in the shootout. But PSG was asleep for stretches of the game and Angers had two good chances before Messi's goal. Nearly four weeks after the final against France in Qatar, Messi needed only five minutes to make an impact. He scored twice against France in a wild 3-3 draw on Dec.

Paris Saint-Germain is back in action on Wednesday afternoon in Ligue 1 action against Angers — and Lionel Messi will return to the club after helping lead ...

[Sling](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587340&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sling.com%2Fshows%2Ff%25C3%25BAtbol%3A-ligue-1&xcust=xid:fr1672435336397adb [Sling](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587340&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sling.com%2Fshows%2Ff%25C3%25BAtbol%3A-ligue-1&xcust=xid:fr1672435336397dhh The game is available to stream on [fuboTV](https://www.fubo.tv/lp/soccer/?bgvideo=Ligue1.mp4&title=Watch%20Ligue%201%20on%20beIN%20Sports&priceline=All%20Ligue%201%20Season.%20Available%20live%20and%20On-Demand&cta=Start%207-Day%20Free%20Trial&irad=398866&irmp=1810038&subId3=xid:fr1672435336397gga Roux nearly scored moments later with a speculative shot just past the post, with Navas stranded. [FanDuel Sportsbook.](https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/soccer?tab=live-upcoming) Angers is +1700 to win and a draw is +750. If you don’t have cable, you can watch via [Sling](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587340&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sling.com%2Fshows%2Ff%25C3%25BAtbol%3A-ligue-1&xcust=xid:fr1672435336397eeb [ fuboTV (free trial)](https://www.fubo.tv/lp/soccer/?bgvideo=Ligue1.mp4&title=Watch%20Ligue%201%20on%20beIN%20Sports&priceline=All%20Ligue%201%20Season.%20Available%20live%20and%20On-Demand&cta=Start%207-Day%20Free%20Trial&irad=398866&irmp=1810038) “Did we think things would be easy once we took the lead? [beIN Sports](https://connect.beinsports.com/us) [FuboTV](https://www.fubo.tv/lp/soccer/?bgvideo=Ligue1.mp4&title=Watch%20Ligue%201%20on%20beIN%20Sports&priceline=All%20Ligue%201%20Season.%20Available%20live%20and%20On-Demand&cta=Start%207-Day%20Free%20Trial&irad=398866&irmp=1810038) gives new subscribers a seven day free trial when they sign up. xid:fr1673025577022jia) with their World Sports add-on package -- or via [fuboTV](https://www.fubo.tv/lp/soccer/?bgvideo=Ligue1.mp4&title=Watch%20Ligue%201%20on%20beIN%20Sports&priceline=All%20Ligue%201%20Season.%20Available%20live%20and%20On-Demand&cta=Start%207-Day%20Free%20Trial&irad=398866&irmp=1810038), which includes beIN sports with their base package (and free trial). The match will air on TV via beIN SPORTS.