February 12, (THEWILL) – Paris Saint-Germain extended their leverage at the top of Ligue 1 to 16 points, with a 1-0 win over Rennes on Friday, thanks to a late goal from Kylian Mbappe.
The PSG number seven had been his team’s brightest spark, but a trademark goal from Lionel Messi’s pass had to wait until the 93rd minute to bring relief to the Parc des Princes.
To that point, Mauricio Pochettino’s side had barely put forth a performance that would make their future Champions League opponents Real Madrid worry. Mbappe was the difference against the only team to beat PSG in the league so far this season, arguing the case of his importance to the French club.
Rennes showed they were determined to do a double on PSG when Benjamin Bourigeaud’s volley into the ground threatened to loop in until Keylor Navas interfered to tip the ball behind in the seventh minute.
Mbappe was a thorn in the side of the visitors, and he came close to putting PSG ahead late in the first half when he bent a shot just wide of the far post from the left corner of the penalty area. Rennes failed to heed the warning and the Frenchman hit the post again immediately after.
On 64 minutes, Mbappe raced onto a Messi throughball and turned Dogan Alemdar before tapping in, but the goal was chalked off due to a flag being raised for offside.
It appeared that the hosts would have to settle for a sharing of the spoils with Rennes until Messi found Mbappe right inside the penalty area, and the Frenchman made no mistake, firing a low effort past Alemdar and into the net.
Despite a poor first half and goal-scoring difficulties, Les Parisiens are now 16 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 and have extended their unbeaten run in the competition to 15 games. They have a Champions League round of 16 first-leg tie against Real Madrid coming up next, and they will need to be more clinical if they are to advance.
Rennes misses out on a chance to move into the top four, remaining fifth. The next time they play, they will face Troyes.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
