KYLIAN MBAPPE REACHED 200 goals for Paris Saint-Germain to become the club’s joint all-time top scorer as the France superstar netted twice in his side’s 3-0 win over Ligue 1 title rivals Marseille on Sunday.
Mbappe scored both his goals at the Velodrome from Lionel Messi assists and in between he set up the Argentine for PSG’s other goal as they moved eight points clear at the top of the table.
It was a result and a performance that will erase many of the doubts about a team that had been in stuttering form in recent weeks as they outclassed their most credible domestic challengers.
France manager Didier Deschamps was in attendance and he saw his defensive selection concerns grow with centre-back Presnel Kimpembe stretchered off in agony early in the first-half. PSG confirmed this morning that the centre-back has ruptured his achilles tendon, ruling him out of the rest of the season. It means he will miss France’s Euro 2024 qualifier with Ireland in Dublin on 27 March, deepening Deschamps’ selection issues in his defence.
Raphael Varane has retired from international football, while Lucas Hernandez of Bayern Munich is absent with the serious knee injury he sustained at the World Cup. Liverpool’s centre-back Ibrahima Konate, meanwhile, is recovering from a hamstring injury, though is expected to be fit in time for the game with Ireland. If he doesn’t make it, the likely pairing at centre-back is Bayern’s Dayot Upamecano and Arsenal’s William Saliba.
In better news for Deschamps, goalkeeper Mike Maignan yesterday played his first game for AC Milan in five months. Maignan is likely to be first-choice goalkeeper following the retirement of Hugo Lloris.
Deschamps does not need to fret about the fitness or form of Mbappe however, who has quickly shaken off a post-World Cup muscle problem to return to the PSG frontline.
“He is obviously fast but it’s not just about his legs: the speed at which he does things is out of the ordinary,” PSG coach Christophe Galtier told broadcaster Amazon Prime about Mbappe.
“Players like him are clearly motivated by stats and records. Tonight he has equalled Edinson Cavani’s magnificent record and he will obviously go on to beat it.”
Mbappe is now out on his own as Ligue 1′s leading scorer this season with 17 goals and has 29 in 29 games in all competitions since the campaign began.
Messi, meanwhile, now has 12 league goals this season and has set up 12 more, and PSG did not miss the absent Neymar.
The Brazilian was sidelined after being stretchered off with an ankle injury in last week’s 4-3 defeat of Lille.
With reporting by – © AFP 2023
