Paris Saint-Germain defeated Metz 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Wednesday to go five points clear of the leaders at the halfway point of the season thanks to a brace from Kylian Mbappe, who celebrated his 25th birthday.
PSG, who had been held 1-1 at Lille the previous weekend, struggled in the first half before Vitinha headed home a cross from Lee Kang-in to open the score early in the second half.
Then, Mbappe seized center stage as he scored a brilliant goal off the underside of the crossbar from the edge of the box to make it 2-0.
Matthieu Udol gave the struggling visitors a response, but Mbappe took advantage of a short backpass to get around the goalie and make it 3-1 as the game came to a close.
Stoppage time saw his 16-year-old brother Ethan make his senior debut, adding even more special memories to his birthday.
PSG finished the year with a comfortable five-point lead over their closest rivals, Nice, who overcame Lens 2-0 on Wednesday courtesy of two goals in the closing minutes from Terem Moffi, a striker from Nigeria.
After rallying from behind to win 2-1 against Toulouse, Monaco is now seven points off of the leaders in third position. Wissam Ben Yedder scored both of Monaco’s goals.
The principality side held on to take all three points despite having Aleksandr Golovin sent off early in the second half.
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Malian international Kamory Doumbia produced the individual performance of the evening by scoring four goals, all in the first half, as Brest beat Brittany rivals Lorient 4-0.
That result lifted Brest into fourth, a Champions League qualifying berth, above a Lille side who were beaten 2-1 away at Patrick Vieira’s Strasbourg.
Marseille are sixth after coming from behind to draw 1-1 at Montpellier, with Jordan Veretout scoring their goal in a game that was held up for five minutes in the second half after fireworks were set off at one end of the stadium.
Montpellier had a point deducted following an incident in their home match against Clermont earlier this season when the away side’s goalkeeper was hit by a firecracker thrown from the same stand.
“These guys are idiots, it’s incredible,” complained Montpellier coach Michel Der Zakarian on Wednesday.
“I don’t understand it. You are supposed to come to the stadium to support your team, not to set off fireworks.”
Will Still’s Reims overcame Le Havre 1-0 because to a goal from Japanese international Keito Nakamura, while Rennes upset bottom-of-the-table Clermont 3-1 thanks to two goals in the last minute.
Thanks to a strike from Alexandre Lacazette, Lyon defeated Nantes 1-0 and moved up out of the bottom three.
A squad that had only won once this season secured its third straight win, and the outcome moved them two points clear of Toulouse, who are currently in the relegation play-off spot.
AFP
