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.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS