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| Kylian Mbappe #7 of Paris Saint-Germain controls the ball against Jean Ricner Bellegarde #17 of RC Strasbourg Alsace during the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain and RC Strasbourg at Parc des Princes on December 28, 2022 in Paris, France. |
Kylian Mbappe scored an injury-time penalty to seal a 2-1 win for Paris Saint-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.
Captain Marquinhos had put the hosts ahead with an early header but the Brazilian defender scored an own goal after 51 minutes 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 penalty area just after the hour.
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 teammates, 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.
The victory put PSG eight points ahead of Lens, who must beat Nice on Thursday to keep up.
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.
