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.



Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
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Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)

Oscar Piastri is on a similar career trajectory to Formula One world champion teammate Lando Norris and should have a shot at the title this season, McLaren boss Zak Brown said on Monday as they prepared to test in Bahrain.

The American told reporters on a video call that his drivers were raring to get going.

"He (Piastri) is now going into his fourth year. Lando has a lot more grands prix than he does so if you look at the development of Lando over that time, Oscar's on a similar trajectory," Brown said.

"So he's in a good place, physically very fit, excited, ready to ‌go."

LAST AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION ‌WAS IN 1980

Piastri, who debuted with McLaren in Bahrain ‌in ⁠2023, can become ‌Australia's first champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

While Piastri took his first win in his second season, Norris had to wait until his sixth. Both won seven times last year.

Brown said he had spoken a lot with the Australian over the European winter break and expected the 24-year-old, championship leader for much of 2025, to pick up where he left off.

He said the discussion had been all about creating the best environment for him and what ⁠McLaren needed to do to support him.

Brown said Piastri had spent time in the simulator and, in response to ‌a question about lingering sentiment in Australia that McLaren ‍favored Norris, "he knows he's getting a ‍fair shake at it".

"You win some, you lose some. Things fall your way, things ‍don't fall your way," added the chief executive.

PRE-SEASON FAVOURITE

Brown said Norris' confidence level was also very high.

"He's highly motivated and it's our job to give him and Oscar the equipment again to be able to let them fight it out for the championship," he said.

"If we can do that, I think Oscar and Lando will both be in with a shot."

Mercedes' George Russell is the current pre-season favorite after an initial shakedown ⁠test in Barcelona last month.

Norris can become only the second Briton to take back-to-back titles after seven times champion Lewis Hamilton, who won four titles in a row with Mercedes from 2017-20 as well as two together in 2014 and 2015.

The only other multiple British world champions are Jim Clark (1963, 1965), Graham Hill (1962, 1968) and Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973).

"I think there are some drivers that say 'I've done it. Now I'm done'," said Brown. "And then you have drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher who go 'I've done it once, now I want to do it twice and three or four times'."

He reiterated that both remained free to race and said decisions would be taken strategically as and ‌when they arose.

"We feel like we'll be competitive. The top four teams all seem very competitive. Very early days but indications that we will be strong," he added.


‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
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‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)

Handle with care. That's the message from gold medalist Breezy Johnson at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after she and other athletes found their medals broke within hours.

Olympic organizers are investigating with "maximum attention" after a spate of medals have fallen off their ribbons during celebrations on the opening weekend of the Games.

"Don’t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke," women's downhill ski gold medalist Johnson said after her win Sunday. "I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken."

TV footage broadcast in Germany captured the moment biathlete Justus Strelow realized the mixed relay bronze he'd won Sunday had fallen off the ribbon around his neck and clattered to the floor as he danced along to a song with teammates.

His German teammates cheered as Strelow tried without success to reattach the medal before realizing a smaller piece, seemingly the clasp, had broken off and was still on the floor.

US figure skater Alysa Liu posted a clip on social media of her team event gold medal, detached from its official ribbon.

"My medal don’t need the ribbon," Liu wrote early Monday.

Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for the Milan Cortina organizing committee, said it was working on a solution.

"We are aware of the situation, we have seen the images. Obviously we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem," Francisi said Monday.

"But obviously we are paying maximum attention to this matter, as the medal is the dream of the athletes, so we want that obviously in the moment they are given it that everything is absolutely perfect, because we really consider it to be the most important moment. So we are working on it."

It isn't the first time the quality of Olympic medals has come under scrutiny.

Following the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, some medals had to be replaced after athletes complained they were starting to tarnish or corrode, giving them a mottled look likened to crocodile skin.


African Players in Europe: Ouattara Fires Another Winner for Bees

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
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African Players in Europe: Ouattara Fires Another Winner for Bees

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)

Burkina Faso striker Dango Ouattara was the Brentford match-winner for the second straight weekend when they triumphed 3-2 at Newcastle United.

The 23-year-old struck in the 85th minute of a seesaw Premier League struggle in northeast England. The Bees trailed and led before securing three points to go seventh in the table.

Last weekend, Ouattara dented the title hopes of third-placed Aston Villa by scoring the only goal at Villa Park.

AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

DANGO OUATTARA (Brentford)

With the match at Newcastle locked at 2-2, the Burkinabe sealed victory for the visitors at St James' Park by driving a left-footed shot past Magpies goalkeeper Nick Pope to give the Bees a first win on Tyneside since 1934. Ouattara also provided the cross that led to Vitaly Janelt's headed equalizer after Brentford had fallen 1-0 behind.

BRYAN MBEUMO (Manchester Utd)

The Cameroon forward helped the Red Devils extend their perfect record under caretaker manager Michael Carrick to four games by scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Tottenham after Spurs had been reduced to 10 men by captain Cristian Romero's red card.

ISMAILA SARR (Crystal Palace)

The Eagles ended their 12-match winless run with a 1-0 victory at bitter rivals Brighton thanks to Senegal international Sarr's 61st-minute goal when played in by substitute Evann Guessand, the Ivory Coast forward making an immediate impact on his Palace debut after joining on loan from Aston Villa during the January transfer window.

ITALY

LAMECK BANDA (Lecce)

Banda scored direct from a 90th-minute free-kick outside the area to give lowly Leece a precious 2-1 Serie A victory at home against mid-table Udinese. It was the third league goal this season for the 25-year-old Zambia winger. Leece lie 17th, one place and three points above the relegation zone.

GERMANY

SERHOU GUIRASSY (Borussia Dortmund)

Guirassy produced a moment of quality just when Dortmund needed it against Wolfsburg. Felix Nmecha's silky exchange with Fabio Silva allowed the Guinean to sweep in an 87th-minute winner for his ninth Bundesliga goal of the season. The 29-year-old has scored or assisted in four of his last five games.

RANSFORD KOENIGSDOERFFER (Hamburg)

A first-half thunderbolt from Ghana striker Koenigsdoerffer put Hamburg on track for a 2-0 victory at Heidenheim. It was their first away win of the season. Nigerian winger Philip Otele, making his Hamburg debut, split the defense with a clever pass to Koenigsdoerffer, who hit a shot low and hard to open the scoring in first-half stoppage time.

FRANCE

ISSA SOUMARE (Le Havre)

An opportunist goal by Soumare on 54 minutes gave Le Havre a 2-1 home win over Strasbourg in Ligue 1. The Senegalese received the ball just inside the area and stroked it into the far corner of the net as he fell.