PARIS: Kylian Mbappe notched two goals and three assists as Paris St Germain beat Lorient 5-1 and maintained their 12-point lead over Olympique de Marseille to move ever closer to a record 10th Ligue 1 title on Sunday.

Mbappe provided the spark in the final third from the fourth minute with a dribbling run and low shot that goalkeeper Matthieu Dreyer palmed away. Soon after, the France striker fed Neymar, who opened the scoring.

The lead doubled in the 28th when Mbappe scored with his signature move, faking a curler into the far corner before drilling into the near corner.

When Lorient forward Terem Moffi cut the lead in the 56th by pouncing on a sloppy back pass from Achraf Hakimi to knock the ball past goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, PSG supporters loudly booed their team’s lapse in concentration.

Mbappe dashed Lorient’s hopes of a comeback by raising his league tally to 17 goals, dribbling past Julien Laporte to bury the ball into the bottom corner in the 67th.

Six minutes later, Mbappe squared the ball back for Lionel Messi, who shot under the crossbar for 4-1. Mbappe made his league-leading 13th assist by playing Neymar in for the final goal in the 90th.

“We must bring back that 10th league title for the supporters, for the club. It’s important,” Mbappe said. “We have an opportunity to make history.”

Marseille reclaimed second place with a 4-2 win at St Etienne in a game that was rescheduled from Saturday following heavy snowfall.

Dimitri Payet and Bamba Dieng scored penalties either side of a comical own goal from St Etienne defender Timothee Kolodziejczak before Amine Harit added a fourth for Marseille.

Marseille’s third straight league win opened a three-point gap on third-placed Rennes, while St Etienne remained in the relegation zone, one point from safety. The top two clubs qualify for the Champions League while the third-placed club goes to qualifying.

Strasbourg emerged as surprise contenders in the race for European spots after edging Lens 1-0 to climb up to fourth place and just two points behind Rennes. Ludovic Ajorque scored the only goal from the penalty spot as Strasbourg extended their unbeaten run to eight matches.

Monaco edged lowly Metz 2-1 and France international Wissam Ben Yedder extended his league-leading goal tally to 18.

On his league debut, Brazilian winger Tete kept Olympique Lyonnais’ slim European hopes alive in a 3-2 victory over Angers. Lyon blew the lead twice despite two goals from striker Moussa Dembele.

Nantes handed Clermont a fourth straight loss, 3-2, Brest won at mid-table Montpellier 2-1, and Troyes beat Reims 1-0 in injury time to move away from the relegation zone.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2022