Mbappe benched again as PSG is held by Reims
Paris Saint-Germain drew for a third successive Ligue 1 game as the leader was held 2-2 by Reims at Parc des Princes, with Kylian Mbappe not introduced off the bench until the 73rd minute.
Having seen Marshall Munetsi’s seventh-minute finish give the visitors a surprise lead, a much-changed PSG equalised 10 minutes later through a Yunis Abdelhamid own goal before Goncalo Ramos put it in front another two minutes on from that.
But Will Still’s Reims were back on level terms late in the first half thanks to Oumar Diakite, and with Mbappe’s attempts to produce a winner after coming off the bench proving unsuccessful, a point was the outcome for Luis Enrique’s side once again, having drawn 1-1 with Rennes and 0-0 at Monaco in its previous two league outings.
It sees PSG go 10 points clear at the top of the table with 11 games remaining, with second-placed Brest having been beaten 1-0 at Lens.
Mbappe, the scorer of a brace in last week's 2-1 UEFA Champions League win at Real Sociedad, dropping to the bench along with the likes Ousmane Dembele and Gianluigi Donnarumma was among six changes Enrique opted to make to his starting line-up from that game.
After Danilo headed into Reims’ side-netting, there was an early jolt for the champion as Achraf Hakimi was punished for a mistake, being dispossessed in his own area by Diakite, who teed up a simple finish for Munetsi.
PSG responded with Ramos bringing a save out of Yehvann Diouf and Hakimi and the Portugal forward seeing efforts deflect wide, before drawing level when Reims captain Abdelhamid, under pressure from Ramos, diverted a corner into his own net.
Ramos then swiftly put them ahead with a deflected shot after the ball fell to him in the box when Valentin Atangana attempted to intercept a cross.
Reims did not look disheartened by the quick turnaround and after Munetsi and Teddy Teuma struck off-target for the visitors, either side of Diouf saving a Hakimi shot, they were level again on 45 minutes when Diakite latched on to Emmanuel Agbadou’s through-ball and sent a sidefooted effort past Keylor Navas and in off the post.
Further chances for the away side after the break saw Agbadou head over from close range and a Mohamed Daramy shot saved by Navas, before Diouf parried Lee Kang-in’s effort at the other end.
With 17 minutes of normal time remaining, Enrique brought on Mbappe and Dembele, and the former saw a low shot from outside the box comfortably saved by Diouf soon after.
Mbappe subsequently put a curler just wide of the top corner, and had another strike dealt with by Diouf in the closing stages as PSG’s sequence of draws extended.
