The injury to Neymar, who appeared to be in tears as he was helped onto a stretcher early in the second half after turning his ankle, will be of immediate concern to the Parisians.
The Brazilian’s fitness is now likely to dominate headlines in the lead-up to not only next week’s match against Marseille, but also the second leg of PSG’s Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich on March 8.
Christophe Galtier’s side were looking to rebound from a 1-0 home loss to the Germans in the first leg of that tie, and they took the lead early on against Lille thanks to Mbappe, who was making his first start since returning from a thigh injury.
Neymar quickly made it 2-0 against a team. PSG defeated Lille 7-1 in their previous meeting in August, but Bafode Diakite equalized for Lille midway through the first half.
The home team then saw Neymar carried off just five minutes into the second half, and Lille drew level when Jonathan David converted a penalty for his 17th goal of the season following a foul in the box by Marco Verratti.
Jonathan Bamba’s superb finish made it 3-2 to the away side, and the home side looked set for a fourth consecutive defeat until Mbappe converted from a Juan Bernat assist with just three minutes remaining.
That was Messi’s 27th goal of the season in all competitions, but it wasn’t the end of the drama because he was fouled just outside the area by Benjamin Andre.
To cap off an incredible game, the World Cup winner stepped up to dispatch the dead ball into the net off the post.
