PARIS: Kylian Mbappe scored an injury-time penalty to seal a 2-1 win for Paris St-Germain over Strasbourg in Ligue 1 on Wednesday before admitting he will never get over France’s World Cup final defeat to Argentina.

Mbappe was back in action 10 days after scoring a hat-trick in the final but then seeing the South Americans win in a penalty shootout.

PSG had Neymar sent off for two yellow cards as the Brazilian made an unhappy return to action following his country’s elimination in the World Cup quarter-finals.

PSG’s captain Marquinhos opened the scoring by breaking free from his marker and headed in Neymar’s cross after 14 minutes. The Brazilian defender, however, deflected Adrien Thomasson’s cross into his own net in the 51st minute to leave the scores level as some of PSG’s stars appeared to be suffering a post-Qatar hangover.

Neymar picked up a yellow for a petulant flick in the face of a Strasbourg player and then earned another for a blatant dive in the 62nd minute at Parc des Princes for diving in the penalty area.

Mbappe had been a constant menace for PSG but was unable to find the target with two clear-cut chances.

But deep into second-half injury time he was brought down in the penalty area and converted the winner from the spot in the 96th minute.

After the game, Mbappe said of the World Cup defeat: “I think I’m never going to get over it.

“As I said to my team-mates, there is no reason why the club should pay the price for the failure of the national team, they are two very different situations,” he added.

Argentina superstar Lionel Messi was absent from the PSG lineup after his World Cup-winn­ing exploits.

PSG also announced that their 30-year-old Italian midfielder Marco Verratti has exte­nded his stay at the club until 2026.

In other games, Lille beat 10-man Clermont 2-0 thanks to an Angel Gomes penalty and a late settler from Mohamed Bayo deep in time added on.

Lyon thrashed Brest 4-2 away from home as they push for the European places.

France may have had a glimpse of the future earlier on Wednesday when 17-year-old Monaco forward Eliesse Ben Seghir secured all three points in a 3-2 win over Auxerre on his Ligue 1 debut.

Thierry Henry was two months younger when he scored his first double for Monaco against Lens aged 17 years and 8 months back in 1995, but the brilliance of Ben Seghir’s brace brought back memories of the Arsenal and France star.

Ben Seghir, who does not turn 18 until Febr­uary, came on as a second-half substitute for Wis­s­am Ben Yedder, who had scored from the spot just before half time but was replaced anyway.

The newcomer unleashed his first goal within 12 minutes with an unstoppable shot to put Monaco 2-1 up.

He then delivered a solo effort to savour, delivering a curling winner from outside the box to make it 3-2.

After the final whistle the Monaco players led Ben Seghir to be serenaded by the away fans on a night that will live long in the teenager’s memory.

The win lifts Monaco up to fifth place on 30 points.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2022