Lionel Messi stars as PSG return to winning ways to ease pressure on Christophe Galtier

A 2-0 win at Nice sees the Paris giants restore six-point lead atop Ligue 1 following successive defeats

Lionel Messi scored PSG's first goal and assisted the second for Sergio Ramos in a 2-0 win at Nice. Reuters

Lionel Messi scored one goal and assisted the other as Paris Saint-Germain bounced back from successive defeats to win 2-0 at Nice on Saturday and ease the pressure on coach Christophe Galtier.

Messi converted a Nuno Mendes cross in the 26th minute before Gianluigi Donnarumma produced several key saves and Dante was denied by the woodwork as PSG's goal lived a charmed life on the Cote d'Azur.

Srgio Ramos then ended any doubt about the outcome when he headed in a Messi corner with 14 minutes remaining, as PSG restored their six-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.

Back-to-back home losses to Rennes and Lyon had left the Qatar-owned club with eight defeats in 18 games in 2023, including a Champions League last-16 exit to Bayern Munich, and piled the pressure on Galtier amid reports he may not even see out the season.

A win for nearest challengers Lens on Friday had cut PSG's lead at the top of the table to just three points before this game, and before the top two meet in Paris next weekend.

"It was a difficult match. We knew we had a lot of pressure on our shoulders both because of our poor performances and because of Lens winning, and especially because Nice are a really good team who have been on a great run," Galtier told broadcaster Canal Plus.

"It was definitely not our best performance of the season but the players fought for each other and it is obviously three important points.

"It is better to have a six-point lead than be chasing after a six-point deficit but we know we have a very important match next weekend."

It was a first defeat in 15 matches in all competitions for Nice since former PSG midfielder Didier Digard replaced Lucien Favre as coach in January. They remain eighth in the table.

Galtier was booed by sections of the home support in Nice, the club he left last year to join PSG, but he saw Messi silence the crowd with the opening goal.

The Argentine's 14th Ligue 1 goal of the campaign came at the end of a week in which it emerged he was likely to leave Paris when his contract expires in the summer.

Donnarumma saved well from Nicolas Pepe and Terem Moffi before half-time, and Dante then sent an effort off the underside of the bar six minutes into the second half, with the ball bouncing down onto the line and then hitting the post.

It was an incredible let-off for the league leaders, who were grateful to Donnarumma again as he made further stops from Pepe and Youssouf Ndayishimiye.

Ramos made it 2-0 but there was still time for Danilo to head against his own crossbar late on.

Marseille can rejoin Lens and close back to within six points of PSG with a win at Lorient on Sunday.