PARIS: Lionel Messi hit the crossbar with a curling free kick and looked angry at being taken off in the 75th minute in his home debut Sunday for Paris Saint-Germain.
Substitute Mauro Icardi scored deep into stoppage time as PSG scraped a 2-1 win over Lyon in the French league to make it six straight victories.
Messi stared sharply at PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino and appeared to snub a handshake as he came off. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner, who is still chasing his first PSG goal in his third appearance following his shock move from Barcelona, sat glum-faced on the bench.
As he was coming off, Messi made a gesture with his hands apart as if to say he didn’t understand, and Pochettino attempted an explanation afterward.
“Everyone knows we have great players in the squad, we have 35 players. But we must make decisions for the good of the team. Sometimes they lead to a positive result and sometimes not,” Pochettino said through a translator. “These are decisions we need to take. Sometimes it pleases people, or it doesn’t. I asked him how he was, and he said he was fine.”
On the field, Icardi found space to head in Kylian Mbappe’s precise cross from the left in the 93rd.
PSG fell behind in the 53rd when Brazil midfielder Lucas Paqueta finished neatly, after forward Karl Toko Ekambi picked him out with a low cross to the front post.
Neymar equalized from the penalty spot in the 66th after he was fouled by 18-year-old right back Malo Gusto.
Lyon coach Peter Bosz was unhappy with the call.
“It’s not Malo who fouls Neymar, it’s Neymar who puts his hand on him and fouls him,” Bosz said. “I can understand if the referee didn’t see it, but then there is VAR.”
Lyon’s long-serving president, Jean-Michel Aulas, went even further by calling the decision “an aberration” and saying the referee should have used video review.
Messi almost scored in the 32nd.
He found Neymar down the left and sprinted to meet Neymar’s clever reverse pass, but goalkeeper Anthony Lopes read Messi’s low shot well and denied him with his legs.
Four minutes later, Lopes was stuck to the spot as Messi hit the crossbar with a free kick from 25 meters.
Messi, whose last Champions League goal for Barca was away to PSG in last season’s round of 16 return leg, also hit the bar in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Club Brugge.
PSG is five points ahead of bitter rival Marseille, having played one game more.
Marseille earlier beat Rennes 2-0 to move into second place with striker Bamba Dieng getting his third goal in two games.
After Dieng turned in a cross from midfielder Pol Lirola in the 48th, substitute Amine Harit scored in the 70th after cutting in from the left flank.
Also, Amine Gouiri missed a late penalty as fifth-placed Nice was held to a 2-2 draw by visiting Monaco in a thrilling French Riviera derby.
Gouiri had the chance to make it 3-2 from the spot in the 82nd following a hand ball by defender Benoit Badiashile. But he missed the target.
Monaco striker Wissam Ben Yedder’s penalty five minutes earlier made it 2-2, moments after Gouiri and Andy Delort set up midfielder Hicham Boudaoui.
After Nice forward Kasper Dolberg limped off with a knee injury, midfielder Aleksandr Golovin put Monaco ahead in the 39th from a right-wing cross by Gelson Martins.
Delort, who replaced Dolberg, equalized in the 50th as he headed in Gouiri’s cross. Gouiri has four goals and two assists in six games.
Struggling Monaco is in 14th spot.
Messi looks angry at being replaced; Icardi gets late winner
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Messi looks angry at being replaced; Icardi gets late winner
- Messi stared sharply at PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino and appeared to snub a handshake as he came off
- As he was coming off, Messi made a gesture with his hands apart as if to say he didn't understand
‘20 years of engagement’ — inaugural Formula 4 championship success signals bright future for motorsport in Saudi Arabia
- Peter Thompson, founder of the Formula 4 Saudi Arabian Championship and Meritus.GP team principal, spoke about the Kingdom’s first motorsport academy and his hopes for the future
RIYADH: Last year welcomed the inaugural season of the FIA-certified Aramco Formula 4 Saudi Arabian Championship.
The series, which aims to provide the first step on the ladder towards Formula 1, was the culmination of years of collaboration between various investors and partners, led by the Kingdom’s first motorsport academy, Meritus.GP.
The championship’s mission?
To produce local driving talent, strengthen Saudi national race engineering capabilities and advance motorsport in alignment with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
Five Saudi drivers emerged, with standout victories by Omar Al-Dereyaan and Faisal Al-Kabbani, both from Riyadh. Other graduates included race winner Oscar Wurz, who has since won the 2025 Central European Formula 4 Championship.
Arab News spoke with Peter Thompson, founder of Formula 4 Saudi Arabia and Meritus.GP, about the season’s success and his hopes for the future.
How did Meritus.GP build the Formula 4 Saudi Arabian Championship?
The Formula 4 Saudi Arabian Championship was the result of more than 20 years of engagement, exploration and groundwork in Saudi Arabia, in anticipation of a potential FIA-certified junior single-seater championship in the Kingdom.
Long before the first Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, we were on the ground exploring circuit development opportunities, assessing infrastructure readiness and evaluating whether Saudi Arabia could host a round of one of the Asian championships operated by the team. Throughout this period, we maintained long-standing relationships within Saudi motorsport circles including former Meritus.GP driver Raad Abduljawad and his brother Mohammed Abduljawad.
A defining moment came with the introduction of Formula 1 to Saudi Arabia. The Jeddah Corniche Circuit quickly became a visible symbol of this ambition, providing confidence that Saudi Arabia could support not only Formula One, but also a structured ladder of junior single-seater racing.
When did Meritus.GP receive formal institutional approval to begin Formula 4 Saudi Arabia?
More than three years of focused groundwork preceded the first race. During this period there was no formal government mandate, no guaranteed institutional backing and no commercial certainty that the project would proceed or be viable.
Then, in December 2022, a formal No-Objection Letter was issued by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, under the leadership of its then-CEO Sattam Al-Hozami, which allowed the project to progress from concept to reality.
Recognizing the benefits F4 would bring to the Kingdom, Mohammed Abduljawad became an investor in June 2023, and Formula 4 Saudi Arabia moved into full delivery mode.
What were the objectives of the proposal presented to Saudi Aramco?
The proposal positioned Aramco Formula 4 Saudi Arabia as a long-term national development platform aligned with Vision 2030.
Its objectives included creating a structured FIA driver pathway from grassroots to Formula One, as well as developing Saudi engineers, mechanics and officials in motorsports.
How did the championship support Saudi drivers, and what was the impact on local talent?
A core objective of Formula 4 Saudi Arabia was to create a genuine, fair and internationally credible environment in which Saudi racers could develop.
Saudi drivers competed alongside international peers under identical technical and sporting conditions, allowing performance and development to be measured objectively.
They ended up achieving race wins, podium finishes and measurable progress across the season, demonstrating that when provided with the right structure, Saudi talent can compete at international level.
How has Formula 4 Saudi Arabia engaged with Saudi education and skills development?
Education and skills transfer formed an important part of the championship’s wider mission.
During the season, Meritus.GP engineers and senior staff visited Saudi education and research institutions such as KAUST, Alfaisal University, University of Tabuk and the Japanese College in Jeddah to discuss career pathways in motorsport engineering, data analysis, and systems integration. These engagements were designed to connect academic study with real-world high-performance engineering environments.
What level of investment was required and how did you ensure equality of performance?
Approximately $6.5 million was invested prior to the first event.
Was there any pre-season training to help Saudi drivers prepare?
During August and September 2023 Saudi drivers participated in a structured pre-season academy program at Meritus.GP’s training facility in Sepang, Malaysia.
What role did sports psychology and driver well-being play in the championship?
Driver well-being and mental performance were treated as integral components of driver development.
Formula 4 Saudi Arabia appointed a dedicated sports psychologist to support drivers throughout the season, focusing on mental preparation, confidence building, coping strategies, performance consistency and adaptation to high-pressure racing environments.
