BEVERLY HILLS, March 22, (THEWILL) – Consummate French striker Kylian Mbappe, on Sunday, crowned a splendid showing when he became the youngest French League player to score 100 goals in the Ligue 1 with a brace that powered his club, Paris Saint-Germain, to a 4-2 win at away at the Groupama Stadium of Olympique Lyonnais and to the top of the table.
It was a crucial tie with ramifications for the fight to the Ligue 1 title and it pitched second and third-placed sides against each other in the tight top-three space. The hosts came into the game on the back of a five-match unbeaten run while PSG’s last league match was a disappointing loss to relegation-threatened FC Nantes at the Parc des Princes. Lyon were in the obvious advantage and gave PSG pre-match scares.
Yet, their 22-year-old France striker played an inspired game to give the visitors the victory, netting either side of the break. Teammates Angel Di Maria and Danilo Pereira, added flourish to the win by getting on the scoreboard to help PSG scale over previous table-toppers Lille with their tally of 63 points from 30 games so far played.
Mbappe’s 84 league goals for PSG, when added to the 16 he put in for Monaco before his big move join Les Parisiens, place the striker in the top slot as the youngest player to reach the 100-goal milestone in the French top division after Herve Revelli, with St Etienne, in 1969.
His professional career began at Monaco with his debut match played in the 2015/2016 campaign before going on to star as the principality club charged to the title the following season. In 2018, Mbappe joined PSG and continued his amazing scoring and football maturing.
Before his 100th in the league, he had, in December last year, reached the remarkable benchmark of his 100th goal for the club in all competitions when he netted in a 3-1 win over Montpellier. And now, at the age of 22 years, three months and one day, he has taken the centurion record from Saint-Etienne’s Revelli, who had been the youngest to three figures, reaching that landmark at 23 years and five months old, coincidentally against Lyon as well in 1969.
Mbappe limped off in the second half immediately raising fears in the country of the France star’s participation in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. But, he did not seem to be in any apparent pain as he was replaced by Neymar for the 20 minutes left in the fixture. It was the first appearance of the Brazilian since picking up an adductor muscle injury in a French Cup game against Caen on Wednesday, February 10.
The match ended with PSG level on points with Lille, but their vastly superior goal difference (46 for PSG as against 41 for Lille), which Mbappe has hugely contributed to, lifted them to a familiar position at the lead of the League.
Neymar, who was a cautionary doubt a few weeks back, returned for the French champions after a six-week injury layoff to celebrate getting ahead of Lille on goal difference. The unexpected 2-1 defeat of Lille at home to a relegation-zone Nimes, in 18th place on the table, earlier on Sunday was an opportunity for the Les Parisiens to seize control of the table and they accepted the chance gladly.
Even if Lyon salvaged some pride in the six-goal thriller with a pair of goals of their own from Islam Slimani and Maxwel Cornet, it was too little too late to make a difference. They maintain their third place in the standings on 60 points, but it is dicey as right behind them is Monaco with just a point difference.
However, Les Parisiens manager Mauricio Pochettino will know their task is far from over, particularly after a sloppy finish to a contest they dominated, but let two goals slip through the cracks. If they truly will return to the UEFA Champions League and get one over Bavarian world champions Bayern Munich, they cannot allow such slip-ups, or they will be severely punished.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.