Ajaccio 0-3 PSG HIGHLIGHTS, Ligue 1: Messi, Mbappe shine as Paris brushes past lowly Ajaccio

A dominating second half performance from PSG as it beat a lowly Ajaccio 3-0 to further solidify its place at the top of the table. It is currently six points ahead of second placed Lorient. A goal and an assist for Messi, a brace and an assist for Mbappe to top it all off. Overall, a successful outing for PSG

Three minutes added

Ekitike is caught offside in the final third as he went to grab Messi’s through ball. PSG is piling pressure on Ajaccio

Marquinhos OUT, Bitshiabu IN

Belaili OUT, Mangani IN

Mbappe OUT, Ekitike IN

GOOOAAALLLLLL! Mbappe with the brace! Tenth goal of the season and he becomes the top goal scorer this season, surpassing his colleague Neymar. Messi with the assist yet again

MESSSIIII!!!! Cool as a cucumber! Bernet finds Mbappe in the middle and the Frencgman puts in a brilliant backheel to Messi. The No.30 shuffles across Leroy and slots it into the net with ease

Idrissy OUT, Barreto IN; Kone OUT, Diallo IN

CLOSE! Belaili continues to cause problems for PSG. He slots an ambitious shot, well outside the box and Donnarumma has to dive to his left to save it. This is the first real test for the Italian so far in this match

Paris has kept a clean sheet in six of its last seven Ligue 1 matches, as many as in its previous 20 beforehand. It has conceded just five goals after 11 league games in 2022/23

Verratti from the middle puts in a lob pass that finds Soler on the right but it is deflected for a PSG corner. Messi takes it but nothing comes off it

Sanches OUT, Vitinha IN

CHANCE! Mbappe off target yet again! The Frenchman ran swiftly on the left flank and into the box but shoots very wide

Bayala OUT, Nouri IN; Moussiti Oko OUT, Hamouma IN

Messi with another good pass. This time to Soler in the middle, he runs in dangerously but Kone intervenes

Leroy produces another fine save to deflect Sanches’ shot over the bar. Sanches starts the move with a brilliant backheel to Hakimi, who then returns the passs back to the Portuguese to fire at goal

CLOSE! What a pass that from Messi. Absolutely magical. He finds a running Bernat on the left and the No.14 shoots but Leroy puts in a firm block to deny a goal

Idrissy starts things off for Ajaccio as the game resumes. An interesting fact is that Ajaccio is yet to win a match in its own backyard, Stade Francois Coty stadium

PSG with the lead at the halfway mark but that doesn’t mean that Paris dominated the half. Even though it had a better possession than Ajaccio, they both have 5 shots on target each. Mbappe had a couple of chances and Messi had an opening but neither was capitalised. PSG will look to build on this lead but that is not going to be easy

ALMOST!!! A rare sight indeed as Messi misses a clear chance. Ruiz produced a brilliant long ball to Mbappe and he in turn finds Messi. The Argentinian received the ball in an awkward position in the penalty box. He tries to turn and shoot but Youssouf comes in with a sliding tackle to avert danger

CHANCE!! Mbappe yet again with a miss. Verratti with the through ball and Mbappe did well to reach but he lets it fly with a left footed shot

Marchetti with an amazing run as he dribbles past Verratti and passes it to Belaili. He then does well and dummies a couple of PSG defenders before Marquinhos arrives to put the ball away

Free kick for Ajaccio as Sanches comes in with a thunderous dash on the opposition skipper Coutadeur. The latter is down in pain but shrugs it off pretty quickly and the game continues

WHAT A MISS! Mbappe has absolutley squandered this. Hakimi could’ve finished it himself considering the work that he put in the run. The Moroccan moved quickly past a couple of defenders and ran into the box.

CLOSEE! Messi from the right spots Hakimi inside the penalty box and puts a cross in but it is deflected by the Ajaccio defense

Ajaccio has lost just one of its last four Ligue 1 matches (W2 D1), this after having lost the previous five beforehand.

GOOOAAAALLLLLL!!! FIRST CHANCE FOR MBAPPE AND HE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF IT. Messi with yet another assist as the Frenchman nets his ninth league goal of the season. The refree has sought the help of VAR as it was a close-call for an offisde but it is ruled legal. PSG officially in front now

Verratti gets a yellow for his mindless tackle on Bayala. He clips the number 14’s right boot as he is brought down

Free-kick for Ajaccio in a dangerous place as Verratti commits a foul. Belaili takes it and decides to take the safer route as he puts in a faint through ball. Marchetti gets it and shoots but it just over Donnarumma for a goal kick

Youssouf, from the left, got the ball from Kone and puts in a wonderful cross that tested Donarumma as he had to jump as high as possible to punch it away. Bayala gets the ball but Hakimi is there to see it through for a PSG goal kick

A little arguement from Hakimi to the match official as he awarded a throw for Ajaccio. Kone gets the ball and attempts an ambitious cross but Donnarumma is untorubled as he gloves it easily

Free-kick for PSG and Messi takes it. A doable distance for the Argentinian. He shoots and it is almost in! His shot is deflected a tad bit Moussiti and Leroy sees it right through the wall as he dives to his right and puts in a save

Intense football there from PSG courtey of a Sanches-Messi link up. Sanches collects the ball from his half, runs forward and passes it to Messi. The number 30 then shows off a couple of tricks from his arsenal as he dribbles diagonally past three defenders and attempts a pass to Mbappe but it is blocked

Brilliant interception from Kone as he deflects Messi’s through ball that was directed towards Soler, who’s in the 16-yard box.

Bernat’s blunder gifts possession for Ajaccio through Bayala who runs into the penalty box and puts in a shot but it goes wide

A minute has passed and Ajaccio players are yet to make their first touch. Meanwhile an attack on the left for PSG as Mbappe receives the ball deep and he tries a grounded cross but it is guided out for a corner for PSG

Messi with the first kick of the game.

Players have lined up in the tunnel and are almost ready to take the field. Marquinhos is PSG’s captain while Coutadeur will lead Ajaccio

We are just under 10 minutes away from the kick-off. Should ideally be a cakewalk for PSG but stats say otherwise. Paris has a shocking 31% win ratio against Ajaccio in Ligue 1. (5 wins out of 16 matches – D8 L3)

League leader PSG will take on Ajaccio, which is languishing at the bottom of the table, in Ligue 1 at the Stade Francois Coty stadium on Saturday.

Neymar won’t add to his league-high nine goals because the Brazil star is suspended for leader Paris Saint-Germain’s trip to face Ajaccio.

Central defender Sergio Ramos is also suspended as PSG looks to maintain its unbeaten start to the season and move six points clear of second-place Lorient.

In Neymar’s absence, Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi could be joined in attack by Hugo Ekitike, who has yet to score after mainly being used as a substitute by coach Christophe Galtier.

-AP

Ajaccio 0-0 PSG

Ajaccio 1-2 PSG

PSG 1-1 Ajaccio

PSG 0-0 Ajaccio

Ajaccio 0-0 PSG

PSG: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Mukiele, Marquinhos, Bernat, Fabian, Verratti, Sanches, Soler, Messi, Mbappe

Ajaccio: Leroy, Youssouf, Gonzalez, Avinel, Kone, Marchetti, Coutadeur, Belaili, Bayala, Moussiti Oko, El Idrissy

Total matches: 16

PSG: 5

Ajaccio: 3

Draw: 8

Ajaccio: Leroy; Youssouf, Gonzalez, Avinel, Koné; Nouri, Marchetti, Coutadeur, Spadanuda; El Idrissy, Moussiti-Oko

PSG: Donnaruma; Hakimi, Mukiele, Marquinhos, Bernat; Ruiz, Verratti, Vitinha; Ekitike, Messi; Mbappé

The Ligue 1 match between PSG and Ajaccio will kick-off at 12.30 am IST on Saturday.

The Ligue 1 match between PSG and Ajaccio will be telecast live on Sports 18 channel and can also be live streamed on Voot app/website and JioTV app.