Paris Saint-Germain didn't have it all their own way against Lens on Saturday afternoon.

Despite boasting a comfortable lead atop the Ligue 1 table, Mauricio Pochettino's side have laboured in their attempts to prove themselves as one of Europe's finest sides.

Besides, all the hype of PSG's outrageous summer transfer window linking them to Champions League glory has largely fizzled out within a few months as the squad continues not to gel.

PSG continue to struggle

The French giants were second best during the 0-0 draw with Nice at the Parc des Princes in mid-week and they didn't have much more success upon the weekend trip to Estadio Bollaert-Delelis.

In fact, despite PSG lining up with a front three of Lionel Messi, Mauro Icardi and Angel Di Maria, it was actually the hosts who took the lead in the second-half.

And while it wasn't even a complete shock when you consider how bereft of ideas the Parisians seemed to be, there's no denying that it came under controversial circumstances.

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Messi goes down hurt

In a week where Arsenal score against Manchester United while David de Gea was down injured, there was a similar, though slightly less dramatic, incident for Seko Fofana's breakthrough strike.

When the Lens midfielder fired off his long-range effort that squirmed through the hands of Keylor Navas, it had come to the attention of some that Messi had gone to ground in pain.

The Barcelona icon was rolling around in pain from a tackle that essentially teed up the goal, prompting Marco Verratti to literally stop playing and allowing Cheick Doucouré to make the assist.

Lens' controversial goal

Verratti appeared to be pleading with Doucouré to stop playing with a series of hand gestures with Messi still on the ground after more than 10 seconds, but Lens simply cracked on and scored.

At the end of the day, it was well within Lens' rights to carry on playing, particularly as Messi hadn't suffered a head injury, but that doesn't make it any less controversial from a PSG perspective.

Howwver, be sure to cast your own judgement on the incident by checking out Fofana's goal down below:

So, what are you thinking: were Lens being canny and cheeky or were they simply playing to the whistle?

Verratti booked for his protests

Well, it's fair to say that Verratti's opinion would fall in the former camp with the PSG star's protests falling on deaf ears and ultimately leading to a yellow card, according to Get French Football News.

And truth be told, you can't help thinking that Verratti should have taken a leaf out of Lens' book by waiting for the referee to make a call because he could feasibly have nipped the goal in the bud.

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However, instead of making Doucouré's route to Fofana much more difficult, he downed tools in a decision that arguably prevented PSG from collecting all three points in what finished as a 1-1 draw.

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