Tag: Kylian Mbappe

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MBAPPE DOUBLE GUIDES PSG TO 3-1 WIN OVER METZ

Kylian Mbappe scored either side of halftime but picked up a thigh injury as Paris St Germain returned to the top of Ligue 1 with a 3-1 victory over Metz at the Stade Saint-Symphorien on Saturday.

The France forward was substituted in the closing moments with a heavily strapped thigh, casting doubts on his fitness ahead of PSG’s Champions League semi-final first leg at home to Manchester City on Wednesday.

“We hope it’s not too serious,” PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino told reporters. “Kylian was calm when he was replaced but even a simple knock is always painful.”

PSG opened the scoring inside four minutes when Mbappe latched on to a floated pass from midfielder Ander Herrera, before smashing it past Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja.

Against the run of play, Metz scored their first goal in four league matches to equalise at the start of the second half as right back Fabien Centonze headed home a dipping cross by attacking midfielder Farid Boulaya.

PSG reclaimed the lead in the 58th minute when Mbappe capitalised on a misplaced Centonze pass, before scoring his 25th league goal of the season with a deflected effort from outside the box.

Mauro Icardi’s cheeky ‘Panenka’ penalty sealed the result with two minutes remaining as PSG moved two points clear of second-placed Lille, who have a game in hand against Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday.

The result rounded off a successful week for PSG as they remained on course for an historic treble of domestic league and cup and European Cup this season, having defeated Angers to reach the French Cup semi-finals in midweek.

“We are on the right track, there is still a month of competitive football to go, we are still in the cup, in the league and in the Champions League,” Pochettino added.

“We are battling to win all three; we want to accomplish what we want to do at the end of the season.”

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UCL: MBAPPE ON THE DOUBLE AS PSG BEAT BAYERN 3-2 IN QUARTER FINAL FIRST LEG

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 3-2 in a thrilling first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal tie in Munich on Wednesday.

Mbappe’s goals bracketed strikes from Marquinhos, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Thomas Muller to give the defending champions — who were without star striker Robert Lewandowski — a steep hill to climb for the return leg in Paris next week.

PSG went ahead just three minutes after the opening whistle with a quick counter-attack that the excellent Mbappe finished off after Neymar rolled the ball into his path on the right.

The visitors had the goal in the net in the 12th minute through Julian Draxler, but the side judge rightly ruled Mbappe offside in the build up.

PSG went two goals in front after 28 minutes when Marquinhos settled and stroked home from a smart Neymar pass that caught the Bayern back line out of position.

Bayern, who’d peppered PSG with shots all night, got a deserved goal through Choupo-Moting in the 37th minute, and tied the game in the 60th minute with a characteristic Muller header in the box.

Mbappe, though, put the Parisians ahead for good eight minutes later with a fine individual effort from another counter-attack — the World Cup winner cutting in from the left and beating Manuel Neuer at the near post.

The goals marked the young France international’s seventh in the Champions League knockout stages, passing Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the most in PSG history. The brace — his third in the UCL knockouts — also tied Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland for the second most by a player before turning 23 in the competition’s history. Lionel Messi had four such games.

“It was a difficult game against the best team in Europe right now,” Mbappe said after the match. “But it is just the first game. [Next week] we have to play with confidence and play again like a team.”

“It was a superb team performance above all, and I benefited from that. We suffered, but we suffered as a team.”

Bayern’s Muller rued the number of missed chances after the game.

“We should have scored far more goals,” Mueller said. “Of course, we can talk about conceding goals, but if you win 6-3 or 5-3 then no one can complain.

“If we had shown the killer instinct that characterises us then it would have been a different game.”
ESPN

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LIGUE 1: MBAPPE BRACE HELP PSG THRASH DIJON

The French top-flight’s leading marksman Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain routed rock-bottom Dijon 4-0 to move up to second place in Ligue 1.

Saturday’s win has moved PSG just a point behind leaders Lille and two points ahead of Lyon, who both play on Sunday.

Moise Kean gave visiting PSG the perfect start after five minutes. Mbappe and defender Abdou Diallo combined down the left to find the Italy striker, who shifted the ball onto his right foot in the penalty area and squeezed it inside the right post.

Mbappe then netted a penalty in the 32nd minute following a handball, converting the fifth of five that he has taken this season.

Five minutes after the break, Mbappe clipped the ball into the bottom left corner for his 18th goal of the season after neatly being set up by Rafinha.

Centre-back Danilo headed home the fourth from a corner late on.

Elsewhere, Metz hit two late goals to win at Bordeaux 2-1 with a last-minute goal from Cape Verdean forward Vagner.

Metz’s improvement under coach Frederic Antonetti continued as they rose to fifth place, while Bordeaux’s fifth defeat in six games left them mired in mid-table.

Striker Samuel Kalu put Bordeaux ahead in the 13th from Youssouf Sabaly’s cross.

After defender Thomas Delaine equalised in the 71st with a fine curling shot from the left, Vagner met Thierry Ambrose’s cross at the back post.

On Sunday, Lille, who are one point clear at the top, face lowly Strasbourg while Monaco look to make it 12 league games unbeaten when they host Brest.

Niko Kovac’s Monaco side has not lost since mid-December and comfortably won at PSG at 2-0 last weekend.

Lyon, who visit Marseille, will move top on goal difference if they win and Lille lose.

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UCL: MBAPPE SCORES HATRICK AS PSG THRASH BARCELONA

Paris St Germain’s Kylian Mbappe scored a stunning hat-trick as his side overcame the absence of Neymar to thrash Barcelona 4-1 away in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday to move within full view of the quarter-finals.

Lionel Messi had blasted Barca ahead with a penalty in the first half but Mbappe pulled the French champions level with a classy piece of control and finishing to complete a flowing team move also involving Marco Verratti and Layvin Kurzawa.

Mbappe, who had not scored in the Champions League knockouts for two years before Tuesday, smashed PSG into the lead in the 65th minute while Moise Kean took advantage of some woeful Barca marking to head in a third goal for the visitors in the 70th.

The insatiable Mbappe looked hungry for more though and after being denied his third goal by Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, he completed his treble in the 85th minute by curling the ball past the German into the top corner.

Barca overcame a 4-0 defeat to PSG in a last-16 first leg in 2017 by winning the second leg at home 6-1 and the Catalans now face another daunting task in turning this tie around when they visit the Parc des Princes on March 10th.

Barcelona went into the game crowing from a run of seven La Liga wins in a row but, while they were boosted by the return of serial winner Gerard Pique in defence after nearly three months out, they were blown away by Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Mauro Icardi should have given last year’s runners-up the lead when he strolled through on goal but the Argentine scuffed his shot and Barca’s teenage midfielder Pedri recovered to clear.

Barca then got a lucky break when Frenkie de Jong was accidentally tripped by Layvin Kurzawa and Messi smashed his penalty beyond former Real Madrid keeper Keylor Navas to score a fourth goal in this season’s competition, all from spot-kicks.

PSG responded emphatically with their classy team goal after 32 minutes and should have gone ahead before the break when Kurzawa was thwarted by a fingertip save from Ter Stegen and Icardi headed just wide from a corner.

Barca had their moments too, Antoine Griezmann showing exceptional pace to sprint towards goal from the halfway line but landing his shot just wide of the far post.

The second half belonged to PSG though, and no player symbolised their confidence better than the resplendent Mbappe, who became the first player to score a visiting hat-trick at the Camp Nou since Andriy Shevchenko in 1997.

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MBAPPE’S LONG RANGE EFFORT CAPS PSG RETURN TO WINNING WAYS.

Paris Saint-Germain returned to winning ways in Ligue 1 with a 3-0 victory over bottom side Nimes at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

The champions suffered a shock 3-2 loss to lowly Lorient on Sunday – their first defeat under Mauricio Pochettino – but responded with a comfortable victory on home soil.

Star man Angel Di Maria profited from a terrible Lamine Fomba error to open the scoring and then crossed for Pablo Sarabia to add a second before half-time.

Kylian Mbappe scored a stunning third goal for PSG, who were without the suspended Neymar, but they remain third in the table as leaders Lille and second-place Lyon also triumphed.

Moise Kean clipped the outside of the post with a header from 10 yards but PSG were ahead seven minutes later through Di Maria’s composed finish.

Nimes midfielder Fomba played the ball straight to Di Maria’s feet and the Argentina international fired away from Baptiste Reynet after teeing himself up.

The home side nearly had a second soon after when Presnel Kimpembe headed a corner back across goal and Thilo Kehrer turned it against the underside of the crossbar.

But Sarabia did manage to double his team’s tally nine minutes before the interval, heading Di Maria’s right-sided cross into the bottom-right corner from five yards.

Fomba was denied by Sergio Rico as he tried to make amends for his earlier error, while Anthony Briancon and Renaud Ripart also had attempts saved by the stand-in PSG keeper.

Nimes continued to ask questions of their opponents but the game was put out of their reach by Mbappe, who curled a shot past a stranded Reynet to seal the win.

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LIGUE 1 ROUND UP: MBAPPE’S 100TH GOAL HELP CLUB BEAT MONTPELLIER, RENNES LOSE AGAIN.

Striker Kylian Mbappe came off the bench to score his 100th goal for Paris Saint-Germain as the French league leader secured a hard-fought 3-1 win at Montpellier on Saturday.

Mbappe’s century of PSG goals — in 137 games — was completed when the 21-year-old turned in a cross from Layvin Kurzawa from close range in the 90th minute.

Up until then, it was uncertain for PSG after English striker Stephy Mavididi equalized for Montpellier in the 40th and the home side pushed strongly for a winner after the break.

PSG striker Moise Kean broke away and netted with a fine finish in the 76th to put the visitors ahead. Mbappe then stroked the ball home from Kurzawa’s quick pass to embellish a win which moves PSG four points ahead of second-place Marseille, and five ahead of third-place Lille.

Marseille have played two games fewer than PSG, while Lille can remain two points behind PSG with a home win against Monaco on Sunday.

PSG coach Thomas Tuchel rested Neymar and Marco Verratti ahead of their Champions League game against Istanbul Basaksehir on Tuesday. But Montpellier’s best striker Andy Delort was also missing, having tested positive for the coronavirus .

It deprived Montpellier of a player who has six goals, assisted on three and has formed a strong partnership with Gaetan Laborde. It also spared a shaky PSG defense, which has conceded five goals in two games, from coping against one of the league’s most physical and awkward strikers.

Tuchel’s gamble to rest his best forwards worked.

In Saturday’s other game, Rennes lost 2-0 at home to Lens, which climbed to seventh place while Rennes dropped to eighth and have won just one game in their last 13 overall.

Lens took the lead in the 27th minute through 18-year-old forward Arnaud Kalimuendo, who joined from PSG in the recent transfer window and netted his third goal of the season.

He went close early in the second half when his shot was saved by the foot of goalkeeper Romain Salin. Striker Ignatius Ganago returned from injury and grabbed the second goal late on.

In the pick of Sunday’s matches, Lille’s lunchtime kickoff frustrated coach Christophe Galtier considering his side played in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Former champion Lyon look to make it 10 games unbeaten when they visits Metz.

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Kylian Mbappe to miss PSG’s Champions League quarter-final due to ankle injury

Kylian Mbappe will miss PSG’s Champions League quarter-final against Atalanta in Lisbon on August 12 after suffering an injury in the Coupe de France final on Friday.

Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe has been ruled out for three weeks after he suffered an ankle injury in Friday’s French Cup final win over St Etienne, the Ligue 1 champions said on Monday.

It means Mbappe will miss PSG’s Champions League quarter-final against Italian side Atalanta in Lisbon on Aug. 12.

“The results of today’s scan confirmed an ankle sprain with damage to the external ligament. The player is expected to be sidelined for approximately three weeks,” PSG said in a statement.

A rough tackle from Loic Perrin saw the St Etienne defender catch Mbappe on the ankle and the 21-year-old collapsed on the pitch in pain before being substituted.

Perrin was sent off for the challenge as PSG won 1-0.