Messi scores as PSG labor past Japan’s Kawasaki

TOKYO: Lionel Messi scored but Paris Saint-Germain were made to work hard for a 2-1 win over Kawasaki Frontale on Wednesday in the first match of their pre-season Japanese tour.
Star forward Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe all started in new PSG manager Christophe Galtier’s first game in charge of his full squad in front of a crowd of 65,000 at Tokyo’s National Stadium.
Messi opened the scoring with a 32nd-minute shot but a much-changed PSG line-up in the second half could manage only one more goal through substitute Arnaud Kalimuendo.