Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi scored a goal each as French league leaders Paris Saint-Germain took advantage of a red card to beat second-placed Lens 3-1 to move into ninth points ahead of their rival.
It was a more special goal for Mbappé. Earlier this season he became PSG’s all-time top scorer when he surpassed Edinson Cavani’s 200 goals. Mbappé’s goal against Lens on Saturday made the 24-year-old French forward PSG’s all-time top scorer in the league with 139 goals. Cavani scored 138.
In total, Mbappé now has 203 for PSG.
Marseille can overtake Lens with a home win against struggling Troyes on Sunday, with seven games remaining after this weekend’s round.
Lens were in complete control until midfielder Salis Abdul Samed was sent off for a reckless challenge on right-back Achraf Hakimi in the 19th minute.
Mbappé scored his league-leading 20th goal when he received a pass from midfielder Vitinha and turned quickly before firing a first-timer into the bottom right corner in the 31st. Vitinha doubled the lead six minutes later with a shot from 25 meters in the same corner.
Messi then combined in the 40th with Mbappé, who threw the ball to the Argentine for a low strike. It was Messi’s 15th goal in La Liga.
Lens played better than PSG in the second half, despite being a player down. A handball from PSG midfielder Fabian Ruiz following a corner gave Lens a penalty and Polish winger Przemysław Frankowski dispatched goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 60th minute.
Lens’ 15-goal top scorer Loïs Openda had a shot saved in the 64th and then forced a corner as the visitors kept up the pressure.
PSG manager Christophe Galtier has come under pressure after eight defeats this year in all competitions, and this week vehemently denied allegations he made racist and anti-Muslim comments when he was in charge of Nice last season .
The Parc des Princes crowd fell silent as Lens dominated early on, with Samed’s header cleverly saved by donarumma after just two minutes.
PSG defender Danilo almost scored an embarrassing own goal when his back pass from almost halfway caught Donnarumma in the 10th and bounced narrowly wide.
The game turned in PSG’s favor when midfielder Samed lunged at Hakimi and caught his left ankle in a dangerous tackle.
Also on Saturday, Rennes beat Reims 3-0 to move one point above Lille into fifth. Belgian winger Jérémy Doku scored twice for Rennes in the first 20 minutes. Defender Arthur Theate made it 3-0 in the 69th.
Report from The Associated Press.
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