Mbappe strikes again as PSG close in on title
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PARIS: Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe scored his 27th goal of the season as the runaway leaders edged closer to the Ligue 1 title with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Toulouse on Sunday.
Mbappe struck in the 74th minute to put PSG on 80 points from 29 games and on the brink of retaining the title with second-placed Lille, who beat Nantes 3-2 away earlier on Sunday, still 20 points behind having played a game more.
Thomas Tuchel’s side will be crowned next weekend if they beat Racing Strasbourg and Lille fail to win at Stade de Reims.
PSG are looking to become the first club in the French top flight to reach 100 points and to beat the record of most goals scored (118), held by RC Paris since the 1959-60 season.
PSG dominated but Eric Choupo-Moting skied a sitter over the bar and Marquinhos had a goal disallowed for offside after a VAR review.
Mbappe, however, found the back of the net with a neat strike from inside the area from a Thilo Kehrer cross 16 minutes from time.
Nantes and Lille failed to get a single shot on target during the first half of their game, and then produced five goals in 15 minutes.
Nantes captain Valentin Eysseric put the hosts in front in the 54th from the penalty spot before Kalifa Coulibaly jumped higher than defenders to make it 2-0 with a header.
A turning point came when Rafael Leao replaced Luiz Araujo, as the Portuguese striker quickly pulled one back in the 62nd.
Forward Nicolas Pepe equalised from the penalty spot in the 68th before getting past Nicolas Pallois down the right flank to deliver an assist for Bamba, who scored in an empty goal in the 69th.
Lille lead third-placed Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Stade Rennais 1-0 away on Friday, by four points.
Monaco suffered a shock home defeat to Caen, who climbed off the bottom of Ligue 1 thanks to a 1-0 win in which forward Enzo Crivelli scored the winner.
Pierre Lees-Melou scored from outside the box with a curled strike to give seventh-placed Nice a 1-0 win at Dijon while Amiens and Girondins Bordeaux drew 0-0.
Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2019
