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PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain beat Ligue 1 strugglers Bordeaux 3-0 on Sunday amid incessant whistles directed at stars including Lionel Messi and Neymar from home fans furious at another European exit.
On Sunday, Kylian Mbappe was again on target, scoring the opening goal after 24 minutes with Neymar and Leandro Paredes adding two more in the second half.
PSG hold a 15-point lead on second-placed Nice and are on track to equal Saint-Etienne’s record of 10 French titles, but the frustration of their home fans spilled over.
Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi was booed as never before in his career, even in the rare bad times with Argentina, and whistled at every touch of the ball.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino said the players had reacted to the hostility “with sadness”.
Mbappe blasted in the first goal from Georginio Wijnaldum’s pass in a move also involving Messi. It was the World Cup winner’s 15th goal of the season in Ligue 1.
Neymar added a second seven minutes after the break with Messi again sending the ball through for Achraf Hakimi who teed up the Brazilian to score.
Paredes got on the scoresheet for the first time this season after an hour, firing the ball into the roof of the net.
Bordeaux, yet to keep a clean sheet this season, have conceded a league-worst 68 goals and sit bottom of the table.
In the other matches of the night Marsielle claimed the third spot after defeating Brest 4-1while Troyes beats Nantes thanks to Ike Ugbo goal right before the first-half.
Rennes powered into the Champions League places as Bruno Genesio’s side won 4-2 at his former club Lyon.
Benjamin Bourigeaud, Baptiste Santamaria and Lovro Majer scored in the first half before Martin Terrier rifled in a fourth just after the break. Strasbourg climbed up to fourth as defender Alexander Djiku’s goal secured a 1-0 home win over Monaco.
Lorient moved out of the relegation spots with a 2-0 victory at Clermont Foot.
Reims beat Angers 1-0 while Metz remain in the bottom two after a goalless stalemate with Lens.
Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2022
