LIONEL MESSI’S wife Antonela summed up a 4-3 PSG win that was full of pain and drama with a stunning reaction to his 95TH-MINUTE winner.
Messi took pressure off boss Christophe Galtier with a free-kick clincher after the Ligue 1 leaders led 2-0 at home to Lille but trailed 3-2 late on.
But even eventual victory was overshadowed by concern for Neymar, who was carried off in tears following calf and ankle injuries. Antonela, however, just enjoyed the moment when Messi rescued PSG.
He swerved a 22-yard free-kick in off the bottom of keeper Lucas Chevalier’s left post, albeit posing questions over Lille’s defensive wall.
Argentinian model Antonela, 34, leapt open-mouthed from her seat in the stands, turned back to acknowledge someone then hugged a female companion. One fan responded by posting: “Messi’s really won in life, none of his on field achievements compare to her.”
Kylian Mbappe’s solo effort and Neymar’s rebound finish had put PSG 2-0 up inside 17 minutes.
But Bafode Diakite, Jonathan David and Jonathan Bamba put sixth-placed Lille in front. With Neymar having long since departed on a stretcher, Mbappe pounced to level on 87 minutes.
Then World Cup winner Messi, 35, stole three points from the penalty area ‘D’ in the dying seconds of stoppage time.
One Twitter user claimed: “I knew he was scoring the second he was fouled, it was meant to be.” But a few others blamed Lille’s defence of the freekick.
Five players were in the wall, plus one lying down beside them. But Messi bent his free-kick outwards, past a sixth man standing close to the wall and into the bottom corner.
Critics posted messages like “OMG that space was too much for Messi” and “Wait o….he played the ball in-between the guy on the floor and those jumping”.
Nonetheless, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner showed he’s still a man for big moments, leaving one fan to post: “Qataris please Bring Messi to Old Trafford.”
