Lionel Messi on Tuesday scored his maiden goal for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in their 2-0 UEFA Champions League victory against Manchester City — and there was a sense of relief at the Ligue 1 club after the Argentine’s stuttering start to the season.
Messi had been unconvincing in his first three appearances since joining on a two-year contract after leaving Barcelona, but he reminded everyone of his talent on Tuesday.
After a quiet first half, the diminutive forward linked up with Kylian Mbappe and found the top corner to effectively wrap up the win in the 74th minute.
Photo: AP
His goal sent the Parc des Princes crowd into raptures and prompted a rare celebration from coach Mauricio Pochettino.
“I’ve spent 20 years watching him score goals from the other side of the opposite pavement — and it’s the first time he scores for a team I manage, so I had to celebrate,” Pochettino said, smiling. “You need this type of performance and players like him need to feel the back of the net. He needs to create links within the team after 20 years in Barcelona.”
Expectations have been high for PSG’s Messi, Mbappe and Neymar. Last weekend, Pochettino had to play down talk of a fallout between the Frenchman and the Brazilian.
While they have yet to gel, Tuesday’s game showed promise.
“I am very happy to have scored,” said Messi, back on the pitch after sitting out two games with a bruised knee. “I haven’t played much recently. Only one game [at the Parc des Princes] — this is the second one here. I am gradually adapting to my new team, to my teammates.”
City manager Pep Guardiola, who coached Messi at Barcelona from 2008 to 2012, said his team played well, but it was impossible to stop Mbappe, Messi and Neymar.
“I wish [Messi] the best. I hope that he’s happy and enjoying it here. He made me so happy when we were together,” Guardiola added.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS