Amid loud jeers and insulting banners from his own fans, Neymar scored a stunning bicycle kick during injury time for French league leader Paris Saint-Germain to beat Strasbourg 1-0 on Saturday.
Neymar met Abdou Diallo’s left-wing cross as it drifted behind him, brilliantly hooking it in with his left foot as he was falling backward. Even as Neymar celebrated, PSG ultras behind the goal where he scored still jeered him.
Two offensive banners insulting Neymar and his father who has also represented him in transfer talks were also deployed at Parc des Princes. One of those referenced Neymar’s reported willingness to spend 20 million euros ($22 million) of his own money to push through the deal, which would reunite him with his friend and former teammate Lionel Messi.
Neymar thought he scored a second goal with seconds left, but Angel Di Maria was ruled offside before squaring to give him a tap-in.
Aside from the spectacular goal, it was mostly a rough afternoon for Neymar.
Some fans whistled and made offensive hand gestures when he ran out onto the field for the pre-match warmup. Then, when Neymar’s name was read out over the loudspeaker as the teams were announced, PSG’s ultras jeered loudly.
One banner held aloft during that game urged him to “Get Lost.”
Neymar faced Strasbourg again, having been injured when the teams met in a physical French Cup match in January.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Keylor Navas made his PSG debut after joining on a long-term contract from Real Madrid.
Striker Mauro Icardi, who joined PSG on a season loan from Inter Milan, came off the bench in the second half.
In later matches, third-placed Nice faced a tough match away to southern rival Montpellier. Also, there were- Bordeaux vs. Metz, Brest vs. Rennes, and Dijon vs. Nimes.
Lyon drew at Amiens 2-2 on Friday.
