Kylian Mbappe on Monday became the first Paris Saint-Germain player to score five times in one match as the Ligue 1 giants crushed sixth-tier amateur minnows US Pays de Cassel 7-0 in the Coupe de France.
Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick in France’s defeat by Argentina in the FIFA World Cup final just over a month ago, netted a hat-trick in the first half as PSG led 4-0 at the break against their regional-league opponents.
He struck twice more after the restart, with Neymar and Carlos Soler scoring PSG’s other goals in the round-of-32 tie.
Photo: AFP
The Qatar-owned club, who have won the Coupe de France 14 times, more than any other team, next play away to bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille in the round-of-16 early next month.
That match is scheduled for the week beginning Feb. 6, just a week before PSG host Bayern Munich in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie.
“Once we scored the first goal it became harder for our opponents,” PSG boss Christophe Galtier told reporters. “The opponents we’ll face over the next weeks are of a different quality.”
Mbappe was given the captain’s armband, while Neymar also started, but Lionel Messi was rested, allowed to sit out this tie played before a full house at the 38,000-seat Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens.
Pays de Cassel performed admirably in the early stages against the Ligue 1 leaders, but their resistance was broken just before the half-hour mark when Mbappe turned in a Nuno Mendes cutback, the ball taking a crucial deflection on its way in.
Mbappe then set up Neymar for the Brazilian to score his first goal since the World Cup, before the France star lobbed in the third and then completed a 12-minute hat-trick from a Vitinha pass.
Mbappe’s fourth, and PSG’s fifth, followed a goalkeeping mistake in the 56th minute.
Neymar set up Soler to backheel in for 6-0, before Mbappe completed the rout, his fifth allowing him to equal the all-time record for most Coupe de France goals.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to