Check out the key stats and figures from Les Parisiens’ 2-1 win over Toulouse on Matchday 22 of Ligue 1 yesterday.
HEADSTRONG Paris
After suffering their first two defeats of the season in January 2023, Paris Saint-Germain got their February up and running in the best possible manner. Having beaten Montpellier 3-1 at La Mosson on Wednesday, Les Rouge et Bleu followed it up three days later, at home to Toulouse, by bagging a second consecutive win – a feat that they had yet to achieve since the turn of the year.
In doing so, Paris put the pressure back onto their fellow title contenders, Lens and Marseille, who respectively play away to Brest and Nice today. Les Parisiens now have a small cushion at the top of the league table as they prepare to make the trip down south next Wednesday for a Coupe de France last-16 tie and the first leg of a February double header against OM.
In addition, Paris are unbeaten in their last 33 Ligue 1 home games, with 28 wins and five draws – the best ongoing streak in Europe's top five leagues.
SO CLOSE YET SO FAR
Fun fact: 100% of the goals in yesterday's game were scored from outside the box, which is a first for a Ligue 1 match featuring at least three goals since Reims v. Saint-Etienne on 10th January 2015, when all three goals were also scored in this manner. In fact, Paris Saint-Germain have scored seven goals from outside the penalty area in Ligue 1 this season – more than any other top-flight side – whilst no team has conceded more of this kind of goal than Toulouse, who have let in six long-range strikes.
Incidentally, this might sound crazy, but Achraf Hakimi scored his second consecutive goal from outside the box yesterday, after netting against Auxerre in November. Just think: it would've been three in a row if his goal against Montpellier had stood. Pretty breathtaking, right?
Finally, still on the subject of Hakimi, this was the second time that he had both scored and assisted in the same Ligue 1 game for Paris Saint-Germain, having already done so against Lille on 21st August last year, when he also bagged one goal and one assist.
messi's sweet 16
In another achievement for the man considered to be the greatest of his generation, this is the 16th season in which Lionel Messi has reached the ten-goal mark in Europe's top five leagues and the first with Paris. Only Cristiano Ronaldo matches this record in the 21st century.
Messi also scored his fifth Paris Saint-Germain goal from outside the penalty area, with only Montpellier's Téji Savanier and Rennes's Martin Terrier boasting a better tally in this respect – six goals each – since the Argentine's arrival in France.