PARIS: Paris St Germain striker Goncalo Ramos came off the bench to replace Kylian Mbappe and rescued a point for the Ligue 1 leaders with a last-gasp penalty that salvaged a 1-1 draw against Stade Rennais at Parc des Princes on Sunday.

PSG, now unbeaten in their last 18 Ligue 1 matches, have 54 points from 23 games and an 11-point lead over second-placed Stade Brestois.

Mbappe, linked with a move to Real Madrid, had an uneventful night before being taken off in the 65th minute.

The France captain, who leads the Ligue 1 scoring charts this season with 21 goals, made way for Ramos, who was brought down by goalkeeper Steve Mandanda for the penalty.

Rennes, who could have extended their winning streak to seven matches, took the lead in the 33rd minute after a bursting run by Amine Gouiri who slotted into the top-right corner.

They looked set to walk away with all three points before Ramos converted his spot kick in added time to level the scores. PSG were handed the penalty following a VAR review.

Rennes, who are seventh with 35 points, travel to fourth-tier club Le Puy Foot 43 Auvergne in the Coupe de France quarter-finals on Thursday.

United States international Folarin Balogun put Monaco ahead after just 19 minutes. Minamino then doubled the lead on the half-hour.Meanwhile, Nice drew 0-0 at home with bottom-club Clermont Foot and are a point behind in fourth.

In Lens, AS Monaco jumped to third, two points further behind, on Sunday when Japan striker Takumi Minamino scored in the second minute of added time to give them a last-gasp 3-2 win at RC Lens.

Lens struck back through Elye Wahi and Wesley Said levelled in the 77th minute.

The hosts, who lost at Freiburg in the Europa League on Thursday, faded in the last 10 minutes.

Home goalkeeper Marcin Bulka threw himself to his left at the end of the first half to save a penalty from Shamar Nicholson. It was Bulka’s fourth save from six penalties he has faced in all competitions this season.

Nice have one win in their last six games.

Elsewhere, Lille’s poor away form continued as they threw away a half-time lead to lose 3-1 at Toulouse, who ended their own winless home run.

Lille took the lead in added time with a goal from Hakon Haraldsson.

Toulouse hit three goals in a 17-minute burst. Christian Mawissa levelled following a corner in the 49th minute.

Substitute Yann Gboho won a penalty eight minutes later that another half-time replacement, Vincent Sierro, converted. Gboho then set up Thijs Dallinga for the third in the 66th minute.

In the late game, Marseille came from a goal behind to beat Montpellier 4-1 for a first league win this year.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2024