Kylian Mbappe was on fire for Paris Saint-Germain as he scored three and set up another goal in a 6-2 annihilation of Montpellier on Sunday.
The French forward’s importance to the team was on full display throughout the game as PSG, despite their dominance, let Montpellier back into the match during a shaky spell late in the first half.
It looked like it was going to be an easy day for PSG when they opened the scoring inside the first quarter of an hour.
Mbappe worked the ball to Vitinha outside the box, who then easily stepped beyond one Montpellier player before unleashing a strike from the edge of the area to send his team into the lead.
Kylian Mbappe (Via Getty Images)
PSG then hit Montpellier with a rapid counter-attack that ended with Mbappe combining with Randal Kolo Muani before the former rolled it into the net from a tight angle.
Montpellier managed to pull a goal back through Arnaud Nordin, and Wahbi Khazri had a great chance to score an equaliser, but his effort was cleared by Danilo.
They did not have to wait much longer to get the equaliser, though, when Danilo’s awful pass back put Gianluigi Donnarumma under pressure, causing him to collide with Tanguy Coulibaly. The referee pointed to the penalty spot, and Teji Savanier blasted it into the top corner.
Mbappe came to the rescue early in the second half when he received the ball outside the box, had a glance at goal, and then smashed it over Dimitry Bertaud and in off the bar.
Right after, Lee Kang-in issued a challenge to Mbappe for the best goal of the game when he played a one-two with Kolo Muani and curled in a beauty from outside the box.
PSG Team (Via PSG/Twitter)
Outgoing talisman Mbappe took back the limelight from his Korean co-star, however, when he raced through to complete his hat-trick. After Montpellier were denied a penalty through VAR, Vitinha teed up Nuno Mendes for a fantastic goal to finish the game off at 6-2.
At his illustrious best, Mbappe showed the quality that PSG will sorely miss when he leaves on a free transfer. He was tremendous from start to finish and demonstrated his individual brilliance in all three of his goals after helping spark the team into life with the assist for the opener.
PSG center-back Pereira had a role in both of Montpellier’s goals. He tried to meet a cross and ended up knocking it to Nordin for a simple header from close range. Despite his vital clearance to prevent Khazri from equalising, the Portuguese defender’s awful pass to Donnarumma caused the penalty.
PSG are now 12 points clear of Brest at the top of Ligue 1 and will hope to protect that lead when they return to domestic action against Marseille on March 31.
