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.
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