In years to come, hordes of Paris Saint-Germain fans will be able to dine out on how they joined the throng around the Parc des Princes one Saturday night in mid May to boo the legendary Lionel Messi during a 5-0 victory for their team.
And why not? The Argentine had played poorly in the 3-1 defeat to Lorient on 30 April and then jetted off to Saudi Arabia to feature in some snaps for the country's tourism authority.
Messi's first punishment upon his return to France was a club suspension and a place in the starting line-up against Ajaccio appeared to be the second for all the opprobrium meted out to the seven-time winner of the Ballon d'Or.
In between the jeers during the first-half, Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi scored the goals to give Christophe Galtier's Ligue 1 pacesetters control of the fixture.
In their rare forays into PSG territory, Ajaccio displayed the ineptitude that had brought two of a possible 15 points from their last five games.
The Ajaccio boss, Olivier Pantaloni, said last month after the 3-0 home defeat to fellow strugglers Auxerre that it was foolish to talk of survival.
But he vowed that his players would give their best in their remaining games.
Against the likes of Champions League winners such as Messi and Sergio Ramos, his seemed a hollow boast.
Marksman
Kylian Mbappé scored his 25th Ligue 1 goal of season to make it 3-0 at the start of the second-half and he bagged his brace in spectacular style after 54 minutes with a volley from just outside the Ajaccio penalty area.
It was another milestone in the 24-year-old's remarkable history as he became only the second Frenchman to hit 25 goals in a season for a fourth time.
📈 @KMbappe has reached the 25 goal mark in Ligue 1 for the 4th time (after 2018/19, 2020/21 and 2021/22) and becomes the 2nd Frenchman to achieve this performance since the post-war period after Thadée Cisowski ! 🔝#PSGACA pic.twitter.com/UbKN4XhZIt
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) May 13, 2023
With more than half an hour remaining, the questions were: would the fans continue to lambast Messi? Would Mbappé rack up a hat trick and increase his lead at the top of the scorers' chart? Would Hugo Ekitike score?
Yes. No. And no.
At 4-0 up Galtier brought on Renato Sanches and Vitinha for Ruiz and Marco Verratti. He also introduced El Chadaille Bitshiabu as the visitors made four substitutions to add to the exhibition vibe.
Mohamed Youssouf's own-goal to make it 5-0 lent a touch of slapstick to the proceedings before dismissals for Hakimi - his second red card in as many matches – and Ajaccio's Thomas Mangani for an unseemly melee just outside the Ajaccio penalty area injected venom to the last 10 minutes of the encounter.
Referee Pierre Gaillouste dispensed with second-half stoppage time to put Ajaccio out of their misery: relegated after only one season back in the first division while PSG moved closer to a ninth title in 11 years and a record 11th Ligue 1 crown.
With three games remaining and their vastly superior goal difference, PSG will wrap up the title next week if they win at relegation-threatened Auxerre even if Lens – who are six points behind – take all three points at Lorient.
