Clubs, Dijon FCO, French Ligue 1, Kylian Mbappé, Paris Saint-Germain, Story


Kylian Mbappe capped a brilliant individual performance by scoring twice and creating another for Mauro Icardi as leaders Paris Saint-Germain cruised to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Dijon at Parc des Princes.

With Neymar and Marco Verratti suspended and Thiago Silva missing with injury, PSG got off to the perfect start when midfielder Pablo Sarabia steered a mishit shot from Marquinhos past Runar Runarsson in the third minute to give them the lead.

Mbappe added a second in the 74th minute, timing his run perfectly to collect Julian Draxler‘s through ball before rounding Runarsson and slotting the ball through the arms of the diving goalkeeper.

He then set up Icardi for PSG’s third three minutes later, sliding a perfectly-weighted pass into the path of the Argentina striker for him to fire the ball home.

The 21-year-old completed his attacking masterclass with a second goal in stoppage time at the end of the game, rifling the ball past the helpless Runarsson to complete the 4-0 rout.

“Near-perfect evening, although there are always things to improve,” PSG coach Thomas Tuchel told Canal+ after the match. “We were a bit unlucky before our second half goals, but we were attentive — that was necessary.”

The win took PSG to 68 points from 27 games and restored their lead at the top of the table to 13 following second-placed Marseille’s 3-2 win over Nimes on Friday night.

“It was a deserved win. Even in the first half we created chances, it is just that we only had the one goal to show for it,” Idrissa Gueye added. “We seized our chance in the second to score and win.

“We are doing fine. We are concentrated and trying to work hard ahead of the [Champions League] return leg against Dortmund. There are a few more matches left for us to work hard and rectify our first leg errors and win.”

Angel Di Maria’s came out early in the match with a leg injury, being replaced by Draxler in the 17th minute.

“I do not think Di Maria’s thigh injury is serious at all. He did not feel comfortable,” Tuchel said. “We spoke and he told me it was not pain, rather discomfort. It was better to not take any risks. We will do tests tomorrow and then see for Wednesday [at Lyon in Coupe de France semifinals].”

Dijon remain just above the relegation places with 27 points.

ESPN’s Jonathan Johnson contributed to this report.



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