In his first match since France’s World Cup final defeat, Kylian Mbappe scored a late penalty to give Paris St. Germain the victory over Strasbourg.
Prior to scoring an own goal in the second half of the Ligue 1 game, Marquinhos had given the hosts the lead.
After receiving two cautions in as many minutes, Neymar was dismissed, making an already poor situation for PSG even worse.
However, Mbappe scored his penalty in the 94th minute to save the three points.
As a result, PSG maintains first position and increases their lead over Lens to eight points, while Strasbourg drops to third and is three points from safety.
Although they controlled 71% of the ball possession, the hosts did little with it and appeared depleted without Lionel Messi, who has yet to make his return after winning the World Cup.
Gianluigi Donnarumma had to make a last-ditch stop after Kevin Gamerio caused trouble for Strasbourg in the first half, and following Marquinhos’ own goal, it appeared that a surprise draw was in the cards.
However, while Neymar’s dismissal initially caused PSG to become frustrated, it also sparked their attack as they fought to recover and attempt to turn the game around.
Gerzino Nyamsi accidentally tripped Mbappe as he raced into the Strasbourg goal in the box, and Mbappe converted the penalty kick past Matz Sels and into the bottom-right corner.
