Messi helps PSG break the losing circuit
PSG and Messi entered the match against Nice with great pressure. The defending champion team lost the last two matches in Ligue 1, and Messi was booed by the home fans in the previous round. But the superstar class helped Messi put PSG back on the winning trajectory, by scoring in both goals.
Messi's consecutive shots from outside the box in just the first 10 minutes signaled a bad day for goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Danilo Pereira was the first to beat the Danish goalkeeper, but the PSG midfielder's header found the right post.
But by the 26th minute, PSG found their 100th goal in all competitions this season. Nuno Mendes stretched horizontally and sank to the right level, allowing Messi to knock down Schmeichel. The goal helped the owner of seven Golden Balls surpass Cristiano Ronaldo to become the highest scorer at club level in Europe with 702 goals.
PSG was under great pressure from the host for nearly an hour of the next game, before Messi continued to shine. The precise suspension of the ball from the corner of the Argentine superstar helped Sergio Ramos to head the goal in his 50th PSG shirt.
In fact, the score of 2-0 for PSG did not reflect the true situation of the match. Nice finished 21 times, including seven on target. The host has a higher expected goal index than PSG (1.61 compared to 1.11), but could not score because goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma played brilliantly.
The PSG goalkeeper turned down chances, like Jean-Clair Todibo's header or Antoine Mendy's and Nicolas Pepe's finishes. Donnarumma's brilliance helped teammate Marquinhos keep a clean sheet in his 400th game for the club. Nice was also unlucky when Dante's shot in the penalty area early in the second half sent the ball to the crossbar and post and fell right on the goal line.
Winning hard at Nice, PSG consolidated the top of the Ligue 1 table with six points more than the second in the Lens group. Nice broke the circuit of 14 unbeaten matches, missed the opportunity to shorten the seven-point gap with the group attending the European Cup. Coach Christophe Galtier also broke the circuit of seven games without winning against Nice - the team he once led.
