Paris, March 10: French league leader Paris Saint-Germain drew 2-2 at home to Reims on Sunday as Kylian Mbappé was left on the bench for the second straight league game.
It was defending champion PSG’s third straight league draw and the attack looked tame without him. Mbappé came on in the 73rd minute with the score 2-2.
He curled a shot just wide soon after, missed the ball attempting a bicycle kick and looked frustrated after shooting straight at the goalkeeper from 20 metres out.
PSG is 10 points clear of second-place Brest with nine games remaining.
Mbappé scored both goals on Tuesday as PSG beat Real Sociedad 2-1 to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.
But, coach Luis Enrique is rotating his players to prepare for next season without Mbappé, who is leaving this summer.
Reims took the lead after seven minutes following a defensive blunder from right-back Achraf Hakimi, who lost the ball in the penalty area allowing midfielder Marshall Munetsi to score.
PSG equalized 10 minutes later when Reims captain Yunis Abdelhamid tried to defend a corner and deflected the ball into his net. Last week, Abdelhamid’s careless backpass allowed Lille striker Jonathan David to score.
Gonçalo Ramos started in attack and put PSG 2-1 up in the 19th minute after Reims failed to clear a cross and the ball fell kindly to him.
The visitors pulled level just before the break when Emmanuel Agbadou’s pass found striker Oumar Diakité, whose shot beat goalkeeper Keylor Navas and went in off the post. (AP)
