Kenya’s great marathoner Kipchoge rubs shoulders with Mbappe as PSG claim vital win over Lille

Two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge was part of the crowd that witnessed PSG come from a goal down to defeat Ligue 1 defending champions Lille 2-1 at Parc des Princes.

Prior to the match, the world’s fastest man in the marathon, was involved in pre-match activities, the club confirmed through their official website.

“The double Olympic marathon champion at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games took part in the PSG TV pre-match live show and met Parisian striker Kylian Mbappe, who presented him with a Paris Saint-Germain shirt with his name on the back,” the Parisians stated. 

Ici c’est Paris! pic.twitter.com/KTB1yVC9nE

— Eliud Kipchoge – EGH🇰🇪 (@EliudKipchoge) October 29, 2021

In the Friday game, it was the reigning champions who opened the scoring after 31 minutes. Burak Yilmaz put Jonathan David through and the latter showed composure in the danger zone before finding the back of the net for the visitors.

It was a reward for the attacker who had been problematic for the hosts and he had missed a massive chance in the 14th minute from just 12-yards out.

Argentina international Angel Di Maria should have got the teams onto level terms, but his shot from the penalty area in the 40th minute narrowly missed the target. 

Lille went into the break with a slim lead, and after the pause, Mauricio Pochettino opted to rest Lionel Messi for Mauro Icardi, hoping to see PSG improve in the final third. But the impact was not immediate, as the visitors continued pressing, with the scorer coming close in the 47th and 59th minutes respectively.

The hosts, finally, got their breakthrough in the 74th minute. Di Maria crossed the ball into the area and the unmarked Marquinhos rose highest to head home the equalizer.

Moments after Icardi had missed a great opportunity, Di Maria sealed the win for the hosts in the 88th minute. The attacker was perfectly picked by Neymar in the area, and he fired into the left bottom corner to give his team maximum points.