On Wednesday, Kylian Mbappe's injury-time penalty secured a 2-1 victory for Paris Saint-Germain over Strasbourg, saving the team from defeat.
At Parc des Princes, the league leaders appeared destined for a draw after captain Marquinhos scored an own goal to cancel out Neymar's goal and received two yellow cards in quick succession. After scoring a hat-trick in France's World Cup final loss, the France international's 96th-minute penalty kick insured his team wouldn't lose ground for the third time this year.
In the absence of Qatar 2022 champion Lionel Messi in the French city, Christophe Galtier's team had failed to turn their early dominance into a more comfortable outcome.
Marquinhos was able to drift comfortably onto a Neymar free-kick from the left and head home in the 14th minute as the home team dominated the opening period.
In spite of the bad weather, Strasbourg gained control of the game, and PSG's complacency cost them in a devastating way after the break when their captain unintentionally deflected an Adrien Thomasson cross past Gianluigi Donnarumma and into his own goal.
After Neymar clipped Thomasson's face with his outstretched hand, things quickly got worse. A minute later, he was given his marching orders after diving in response to an Alexander Djiku challenge in the box.
The hosts' ability to regain momentum after his dismissal appeared to be spent, but they were given a reprieve when Mbappe was adjudged to have been brought down in the penalty area by Gerzino Nyamsi four minutes into extra time.
Mbappe maintained his cool, as he did three times in the World Cup final, to save his team's face by scoring from the penalty spot to keep PSG firmly at the top and give them a winning finish to 2022.
MBAPPE IS BACK IN THE GAME
Even as his team applied early pressure in Paris, the France forward appeared a touch worn out despite having made history with a hat-trick while losing in Doha earlier this month.
Mbappe eventually gave them the creative lift they required in the final stretch, bringing his Ligue 1 tally for the season to 13, much like he did for his country little under a fortnight ago.
MARQUINHOS AND NEYMAR LOSE THEIR HEROIC STATUS.
The Brazil combination did not seem to be displaying any rust after their own World Cup experience that ended at the quarterfinal stage after combining beautifully for PSG's opening goal, but their return soon went sour.
Since Dani Alves in April 2019, Marquinhos is the only PSG player to score and allow an own goal in the same game, while Neymar's red card was his fifth in 107 Ligue 1 contests.
STRASBOURG IS IN ANGUISH NOW.
After coming close to stealing a rare set of points away from the champions this season, head coach Julien Stephan will be hoping that someone will think about his Strasbourg team.
The Alsace team has scored in five straight Ligue 1 games, the longest streak of the season, but it was not enough to avoid going without a victory for a sixth straight game.
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