PARIS:
Kylian Mbappe became Paris Saint-Germain’s top scorer with his 201st goal for the club as the Ligue 1 leaders warmed up for their tough trip to Bayern Munich with a 4-2 win at Nantes on Saturday.
The Frenchman equaled Edinson Cavani’s first 200 goals in last week’s win over Marseille and went even better by scoring in stoppage time at the Parc des Princes.
PSG was the first to destroy the two-goal lead, and Lionel Messi put them ahead with a Jaouen Hadjam goal that made it 2-0 inside 17 minutes before Nantes fought back to take the lead.
Ludovic Blas pulled one back for the visitors and Ignatius Ganago equalised, but Mbappe set up Danilo Pereira to put PSG back in front on the hour mark and then scored his late goal.
Mbappe the record was achieved in just 247 appearances since signing from Monaco aged 18 in 2017.
Uruguayan star Cavani needed 298 games, and seven years, to secure the first record in 2020.
The 24-year-old Mbappe was presented with a trophy by the club after the match to mark his record on the pitch.
“I play to make history and I always say that I want to make history in France, in the capital of my country, in my city, and I am doing that. It is amazing, but There is still a lot to do,” Mbappe, who finished the game as captain, told Canal Plus.
“For me, as a citizen of Paris, this is special. If someone had told me that I would score the goal to win the championship while wearing the captain’s armband, I would not have believe it.”
The result gave PSG an 11-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 before the Qatari club travel to Bayern for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday. .
PSG trail 1-0 from the first leg against the Bavarians and the failure to progress to the quarter-finals in Europe will make a big impact at the end of their season.
Injured Moroccan star Achraf Hakimi watched from the stands at the Parc des Princes a day after he was charged with rape following allegations made by a 24-year-old woman.
Neymar was also a spectator and will not return for the game against Bayern, while centre-back Presnel Kimpembe is set to miss the rest of the season with an achilles injury. .
Coach Christophe Galtier lost two more defenders to injury in the second half against Nantes, with captain Marquinhos and right-back Nordi Mukiele both expected to leave.
Before the match there was a standing ovation for Just Fontaine, the first French player to score 13 goals in the World Cup in 1958 and who died today Lulu died at the age of 89.
Fontaine also coached PSG, leading them to promotion to the top flight of French football in 1974.
The Parisians went ahead in the 12th minute, and Messi turned in Nuno Mendes’ low cross to score his 13th Ligue 1 goal this season.
Hadjam’s unlucky goal gave PSG the lead, but Blas’ shot stunned Gianluigi Donnarumma after half an hour brought Nantes back into the game and Cameroonian Ganago’s header the 2-2 before the break.
PSG also won two-goals in their last game against Lille two weeks ago before recovering to win 4-3, and they did it again here with Mbappe playing in a special way.
His assist was headed in by Danilo to make it 3-2 before the hosts were awarded a penalty for a foul on Mukiele, only for a VAR check to confirm that the contact had been made outside the box. the box.
It seems that Mbappe will wait for his record before hitting the final and finish on time.
Earlier, Lens missed the chance to climb above second-placed Marseille when they drew 1-1 at home to northern Lille, where the Canadian star scored Jonathan David the same.
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