Hakimi gives PSG a victory in the final in Metz

PARIS: Achraf Hakimi scored in injury time to give Paris St Germain a 2-1 win over last Metz in ranking, keeping his perfect start to the Ligue 1 season in this season. The Moroccan defender scored his first goal five minutes after the start and added the second to the fifth minute of added time, bringing Saint-Germain’s tally to 21 points in seven games. This victory came three days after the capital’s side defeated Olympique Lyonnais with the same result, with a goal even in the closing seconds. Paris Saint-Germain are ahead of Olympique de Marseille, second in ranking, who drew goalless at the Stade Angers and has a match in less than seven points. At the start of the day, the champion in charge Lille scored their second win of the season by defeating their host Stade Reims, and Monaco defeated their host, Saint-Etienne 3-1, who finished next to last. Metz, which has closed in 10 men after the expulsion of Tunisian Dylan Bronn for a double yellow card at the last minute, he has three points in seven games. Lens, who played the first of the two games in home with no fans after fans rioted during the win in a derby with Lille last Saturday, they lost 1-0 to Strasbourg, dropping to fourth place with 12 points, behind Angers for goal difference. Olympique Lyonnais, improved after a bad start to the season, beat Troyes 3-1 thanks to goals from Xherdan Shaqiri, Emerson and Lucas Paqueta, climbing to sixth place with 11 points, a place ahead of Nice, who lost 1 -0 to Lorient. At Metz, Paris Saint-Germain were left without Lionel Messi after the Argentine striker was excluded from the squad with a knee problem, but Hakimi shone and scored twice. The Moroccan full-back opened the scoring after receiving the ball after an attempt by Mauro Icardi to change direction after the ball hit Matteo Odol. But six minutes before halftime, Metz equalized with Aboubakr Kouyate’s header from Al-Amin Jay’s cross. Neymar was close to scoring in two chances, but the Brazilian striker failed to do so, while Metz was a strong match until the last minute when Brun received a second warning for wasting time. Five minutes later, Hakimi fired a superb shot in leads after a pass by Neymar, to give the three points to the team of the Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino after another performance under the media. (Reuters)