PARIS: Kylian Mbappe scored twice from Lionel Messi assists as an impressive Paris St Germain came from behind to beat Saint-Etienne 3-1 and further extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 16 points on Saturday.

French forward Mbappe scored either side of halftime and then turned provider for Danilo Pereira to head home at the back post for the third goal.

St Etienne had collected 10 points from their previous four Ligue 1 matches to move from bottom of the standings to outside the relegation zone.

They took a 16th-minute lead through Denis Bouanga and held it until three minutes before the break when Messi played Mbappe in behind the defence with a typically astute pass for the equaliser.

Messi’s fine run and pass set Mbappe up two minutes after the break and five minutes later Danilo doubled the lead.

Earlier on Saturday, Nice moved second after a 0-0 draw at fifth-placed Racing Strasbourg.

Nice have 46 points to PSG’s runaway tally of 62 after 26 games.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2022