Ligue1

Messi fires PSG to victory on his return

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Lionel Messi marked his return to action with a goal to help Paris Saint-Germain secure a 2-0 victory over Angers in Ligue 1 on Wednesday.

Messi had been rested for PSG’s first three matches after guiding Argentina to the World Cup title in Qatar.

But he returned to training in Paris a week ago and was back in the starting line-up for this game against Angers in the Ligue 1.

Young striker Hugo Ekitike opened the scoring for the home side at the Parc des Princes but Messi put the game to bed with 17 minutes remaining in the game to slot home his 13th goal of the season.

“Messi has recovered well. He is relaxed and in great shape physically, and with Leo the team looks different,” said coach Christophe Galtier.

“We are coming back off the World Cup so it is difficult for the players to find their reference points again.

“We are all just getting used to playing together again and you could see at times that we lacked some of the connections between the players that we had more often before the World Cup.”