PSG defeated Nice in Ligue 1 on October 1. As a result of the match, they passed Marseille for first place with 25 points after nine games.
The hosts came into this game off a tough 1-0 victory over Lyon in their last game. They briefly recaptured first place in the standings with the win. The fact that Marseille had played earlier in the day gave them a point advantage before the game began. Christophe Galtier fielded a diversified team for this contest. Hugo Ekitike, a recent addition, took Kylian Mbappe’s place as the starting attacker because he was rested.
Starting the game on the offensive, PSG was by far the better team in the first half because they created more opportunities. Thanks to Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz in the middle of the field, the hosts had no issue keeping possession of the ball for prolonged periods of time. Lionel Messi seemed to be in great shape as he made several efforts. The Argentinean gave his team the lead with a superb free-kick goal after 29 minutes. It was Messi’s first goal for PSG and his 60th direct free-kick goal overall.
The home team executed 380 passes in total, controlling 65% of the ball in the opening frame. Five shots were taken by the hosts, two of which were on target and three off-target. The score gave the home team a boost, and they played well to end the first half. As they effectively repelled Nice’s assaults, Sergio Ramos and Nordi Mukiele appeared to be rock solid at the back. PSG had a 1-0 advantage at halftime.
A little more sluggish than Nice, who equalized two minutes after the restart, the Parisians came out for the second half. When a cross from the right wing deflected off of two defenders and came to Gaetan Laborde’s foot, he did well to keep his cool. After 47 minutes, he scored with a precise finish to tie the game at one.
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Compared to Ronaldo, who has scored 48 free-kick goals at the club level, Messi has scored 51 such goals. For Argentina, Lionel Messi has netted 9 goals from free kicks. Cristiano Rolando has scored 10 goals for Portugal so far. Messi has five goals from free kicks in the Champions League while Ronaldo has twelve. Both players are nearing the conclusion of their careers, but the Messi vs Ronaldo conflict is far from over.
