Kylian Mbappe became Paris Saint-Germain’s joint-record scorer and Lionel Messi hit the 700th goal of his senior club career as the Ligue 1 leaders thrashed rivals Marseille 3-0 on Sunday.
Mbappe and Messi traded assists as the visitors stormed into a 2-0 half-time lead as the Argentine reached 700 goals in senior football for Barcelona and PSG.
But the duo saved their best for after the break as Mbappe volleyed home from Messi’s through ball to join Edinson Cavani in scoring 200 PSG goals on a night to remember for Christophe Galtier’s men.
The result left them eight points clear of Marseille at the summit of Ligue 1, easing the pressure that had begun to build on Galtier after their underwhelming start to 2023.
PSG suffered an early setback when a tearful Presnel Kimpembe was injured, but they hit the front after 25 minutes when Messi found space to send Mbappe through on goal, the striker using an unerring finish.
Mbappe returned the favor four minutes later when he linked up with Nuno Mendes on the break before Messi fired home a pinpoint low cross.
Messi should have had a second when he somehow blazed over from just six yards before Marquinhos fired just wide of the bottom left corner after beating the hosts’ offside trap.
Mbappe nodded Vitinho’s cross just wide of the left-hand post six minutes after the restart, but the France star got his breakthrough goal four minutes later.
A fluid move ended with Messi flicking a wonderful ball into the path of Mbappe, who volleyed a left-footed volley past Pau Lopez to effectively end the game.
Marseille’s Alexis Sanchez and Vitinha came close to pulling one back, but Gianluigi Donnarumma denied both with crisp saves to keep PSG’s clean sheet.
PSG player ratings
GK – Gianluigi Donnarumma – 7/10 – Made a stunning save in the second half to deny Alexis Sanchez.
CB – Sergio Ramos – 6/10 – Not really troubled at the back.
CB – Marquinhos – 6/10 – Got forward well on occasion.
CB – Presnel Kimpembe – N/A – Subbed off early with what looked like a serious injury.
RM – Nordi Mukiele – 6/10 – Worked hard on the flank.
CM – Fabian Ruiz – 7/10 – One of his more noteworthy PSG performances so far.
CM – Vitinha – 8/10 – Bar Messi and Mbappe, Vitinha was the best player on the pitch. Dominated the midfield.
CM – Marco Verratti – 6/10 – Tidy and as busy as ever.
LM – Nuno Mendes – 7/10 – A ‘tackle of the season’ contender on Nuno Tavares was his highlight.
ST – Kylian Mbappe – 10/10 – Scored with his first sight of goal, then played a sublime cross to Messi to double the lead. Bagged another in the second half and generally just looked completely unstoppable all evening.
ST – Lionel Messi – 10/10 – His inch perfect pass set up the opener, and he latched onto Mbappe’s stunning cross to make it 2-0. Added another superb assist in the second half. A ridiculous footballer.
SUB – Danilo Pereira – 6/10 – He didn’t have a whole lot to do.
SUB – Warren Zaire-Emery – N/A.
SUB – Juan Bernat – N/A.
