Much has been made about Lionel Messi’s underwhelming performances in front of goal in his debut campaign in Paris this season. However, the Argentine returned to form and scored two goals against Montpellier with PSG running riot.
The striker found the back of the net twice as already crowned champions of France Paris Saint-Germain secured a comfortably 4-0 victory away from home at Montpellier on May 14.
The Argentine captain’s maiden campaign in the Ligue 1 has been far from stellar. Affected by his shocking departure from Barcelona amidst a set of catastrophic events as well as manager Mauricio Pochettino being unable to get the best out of him, Messi’s scoring shoes haven’t been on display frequently. He has also missed a major chunk of the campaign due to injury and had also contracted Coronavirus at one point.
However, the 2021 Ballon d’Or winner has started to look more sorted and in place since the last couple of months. He has been receiving the ball more lately and getting into good positions. On Saturday, Lionel Messi registered his name on the scoresheet twice.
First, he latched onto Kylian Mbappe’s beautiful cutback to slot it into the far corner with ease with six minutes on the clock. He then got on the end of yet another fantastic cross from Mbappe, and rounded the opposition keeper to make it two on the night and taking his Ligue 1 goal tally to six goals for the season.
National teammate and compatriot Angel Di Maria then made it 3-0 for PSG inside the first half hour of the contest. Messi also had the chance to register his first hattrick for the Parisian outfit but Mbappe stepped up to take the penalty from 12 yards. He converted the spot-kick with ease in the second half to make it 25 goals in the Ligue 1 this season. The French star has also registered 19 assists in the league with Messi in second place with 13 assists.
With just one match remaining this season, the Parisians have a 15-point lead over AS Monaco in second place. Meanwhile, Montpellier are down in 13th position in the league table.
