Mbappe Misses Penalty, Comes off Injured in PSG Win

PSG's Kylian Mbappe reacts after missing a chance during the French League One soccer match between Montpellier and Paris Saint-Germain at the State La Mosson stadium in Montpellier, France, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PSG's Kylian Mbappe reacts after missing a chance during the French League One soccer match between Montpellier and Paris Saint-Germain at the State La Mosson stadium in Montpellier, France, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
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Mbappe Misses Penalty, Comes off Injured in PSG Win

PSG's Kylian Mbappe reacts after missing a chance during the French League One soccer match between Montpellier and Paris Saint-Germain at the State La Mosson stadium in Montpellier, France, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PSG's Kylian Mbappe reacts after missing a chance during the French League One soccer match between Montpellier and Paris Saint-Germain at the State La Mosson stadium in Montpellier, France, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Paris Saint-Germain extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 with a 3-1 win at Montpellier on Wednesday but their evening was overshadowed by an injury to Kylian Mbappe, who had earlier missed a penalty.

The France superstar had an eighth-minute spot-kick saved by Montpellier's Benjamin Lecomte and then remarkably saw his second attempt turned onto the post by the goalkeeper after the referee ordered a retake, AFP said.

Mbappe then limped off with what looked like a hamstring injury midway through the first half, raising the alarm for PSG with the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich now less than two weeks away.

Speaking after the game, coach Christophe Galtier suggested the injury was down to a knock rather than a muscle problem.

"He took a knock to the back of the knee or the back of the thigh, so we'll see," said Galtier.

"I'm not too worried," he added. "It's a bruise or a contusion, we don't know yet.

"With the run of matches we don't want to take risks with a very busy fixture list, but it doesn't appear that serious."

PSG host Bayern in Paris on February 14, with the second leg in Germany on March 8. They are desperate to avoid a repeat of last season when they were knocked out at the same stage of the Champions League by Real Madrid.

After winning just one of their last four league games, Wednesday's awkward trip for PSG saw them also lose Sergio Ramos to injury and have two goals disallowed before Fabian Ruiz put them ahead 10 minutes into the second half.

- Messi on target -
Ruiz then set up Lionel Messi to make it 2-0 with a deft finish in the 72nd minute, the Argentine scoring his 14th club goal of the season.

Sixteen-year-old midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery made sure of the win in stoppage time after Arnaud Nordin -- a friend of Mbappe's from their time together at France's national training academy -- had pulled one back.

PSG, who were without the rested Neymar, extended their lead at the top of the table from three to five points after Lens lost 1-0 at home to Nice.

"It was a good performance in general," Galtier said.

"There was an incredible scenario in the first half with the retaken penalty, we hit the post, had goals disallowed and two injuries because Sergio Ramos was involved in a collision and on falling he hurt his adductor, but apparently it is nothing serious."

The win for PSG came after a frustrating end to the January transfer window on Tuesday as they failed to process the paperwork to complete the loan signing of Hakim Ziyech from Chelsea after the Moroccan winger had passed a medical.

Gaetan Laborde scored the only goal of the game for Nice as Lens dropped points at home for the first time this season after winning all 10 previous matches there.

Marseille climbed above Lens into second place thanks to a 2-0 victory at Nantes earlier, secured by an own goal from Joao Victor and then a late strike by Azzedine Ounahi, the Moroccan World Cup star making his debut after signing in the January window.

Monaco in fourth beat Auxerre 3-2, while fifth-placed Rennes eased to a 3-0 win against struggling Strasbourg.

On-loan Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun followed up his last-gasp equalizer against PSG at the weekend by netting a hat-trick as Reims came from two goals down to beat Lorient 4-2 and extend their unbeaten run to 15 games.

Bottom side Angers suffered a new French top-flight record 13th consecutive defeat as they conceded in stoppage time to lose 2-1 at home to Ajaccio.

That result leaves them 11 points from safety.



Draper Stuns Two-time Defending Champ Alcaraz to Reach Indian Wells Final

 Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Draper Stuns Two-time Defending Champ Alcaraz to Reach Indian Wells Final

 Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)

Jack Draper ended Carlos Alcaraz's bid for a rare Indian Wells ATP Masters three-peat on Saturday, toppling the Spaniard to book a title clash with Holger Rune.

Britain's Draper, ranked 14th in the world, held his nerve to beat Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 and reach the first Masters 1000 final of his career.

Denmark's Rune, ranked 13th, triumphed 7-5, 6-4 over world number six Daniil Medvedev -- who had been runner-up to Alcaraz each of the past two years.

"This one hurts," admitted Alcaraz, who was trying to join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win three straight titles in the California desert.

"I don't want to lose any match, but I think this one was even more special to me. It was difficult today, a lot of nerves in the match."

Draper ended Alcaraz's 16-match winning streak in the California desert, leaping out of the gate and wrapping up the first set in 23 minutes as Alcaraz failed to get to grips with the left-hander's serve.

The second set was a mirror image of the first as Alcaraz found his range and after fending off a break point with a 137-mph ace in the opening game broke Draper three times to level the match.

“It was a strange match in all honesty,” Draper said. "Carlos came out a little flat, I sensed that. I had a chance in the first game of the second, and he came up with an ace ...

"What happened to him happened to me, I got tight, I had low energy. I got lost out there for 25 minutes, but in the third, I was really proud of my competitiveness, my attitude and I somehow managed to get over the line."

Draper, who lost a set to love for the first time in his career, broke Alcaraz for a 2-1 lead in the third in a game that featured a lengthy video review that showed the Briton had indeed managed to scoop back a winner off an Alcaraz drop shot without a double bounce.

Upon review umpire Mohamed Lahyani first called for the point to be replayed but then awarded it to Draper, ruling his "not up" call in the rally hadn't hindered Alcaraz.

"Waiting for the ball reviews, they didn't bother me at all," Alcaraz said. "All I can say is Jack came, he played much better than me. That point didn't affect my play at all."

With momentum on his side, Draper broke again for 5-2 lead -- Alcaraz failing to put away four game points.

Draper did show some nerves as he served for the match at 5-2 and was broken, abut steadied himself to seal the victory on his second opportunity.

Rune executed a thoughtful game plan to perfection against Medvedev to snap a seven-match losing streak in semi-finals.

"It was to really play my game, come forward, take the ball on the rise," Rune said of his strategy against a player known for his defense.

"If you hit hard to him, he likes the pace and he responds well to being in the defense and hitting strong back.

"So I tried to make it difficult for him. I tried to mix it up, making every shot that he has to play annoying for him. Slices, slow slices, some mixing the tempo, hitting hard on some, looping some."

After an early exchange of breaks in the opening set, Rune managed to grind out a key hold for 4-4, saving one break point in a game that went to deuce six times and lasted nearly 11 minutes.

He broke for a 6-5 lead and pocketed the set when his rolling backhand drew another error from Medvedev, then rode an early break in the second set to victory.