Neymar was sent off but Kylian Mbappé rescued Paris Saint-Germain with a late penalty to snatch a 2-1 victory over Strasbourg in the France striker’s first game since the World Cup final.
Marquinhos opened the scoring by breaking free from his marker and heading 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.
Neymar received his marching orders in the 62nd minute at Parc des Princes after picking up two bookings in two minutes; the first for a foul and then a second for diving a minute later. It was Neymar’s fifth red card since joining PSG for a world record fee of €222m ($236m) in 2017, and he will be suspended for Sunday’s game at second-place Lens.
Ten days after Mbappé’s hopes of becoming a two-time World Cup winner were dashed when the 2018 champions France were beaten by Argentina in the Qatar final, the 24-year-old was on target again, scoring a penalty six minutes into stoppage time after being pulled inside the box.
PSG top the standings with 44 points, eight ahead of Lens, who have a game in hand. Strasbourg are in 19th place, three points ahead of bottom-of-the-table Angers.
Teenage talent Salim Ben Seghir scored twice – including an 85th minute winner – in Monaco’s 3-2 win at Auxerre. The sides both scored a first-half penalty, M’Baye Niang giving the home side the lead before Wissam Ben Yedder equalised from the spot in stoppage time before the break.
Ben Seghir gave Monaco the lead in the 58th minute, Youssouf Fofana’s own goal brought Auxerre level but Ben Seghir sttled matters late on. Monaco stay fifth while Auxerre drop into the bottom three.
