Lionel Messi scores and assists to lift Paris Saint-Germain out of slump

PARIS:Goals from Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos powered Paris Saint-Germain to a 2-0 victory at Nice to snap their two-match losing streak in French Ligue 1.

The win on late Saturday night also put the 10-time league champions back to six points in front of Lens in the standings, to some degree temporarily easing the pressure on every member in the team, especially head coach Christophe Galtier and superstar Messi.

"It was a difficult match. We knew we had a lot of pressure on our shoulders both because of our poor performances and because of Lens winning, and especially because Nice are a really good team who have been on a great run," said Galtier, who led Nice to a fifth-place finish last season before taking the rein of the Parisians.

Seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi, who has been whistled by Paris fans in the last two home matches, opened the scoring in the first half from a low cross into the box by left back Nuno Mendes.

Ramos, who just came back from a calf injury, scored his first goal of this season as the Spaniard headed in a Messi corner with 14 minutes remaining to seal the win for PSG, a Xinhua report said.

But it was the man standing between the post that was named the player of the match. Gianluigi Donnarumma made three excellent saves to deny Hicham Boudaoui and Nicolas Pepe's efforts in the first half, and refuse Youssouf Ndayishimiye's close-range strike in the second. (IANS)

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