Mbappe scores again as PSG thrash Amiens for perfect 10

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain continued the blistering start to their Ligue 1 title defence with a record-extending 10th straight win as Kylian Mbappe scored in a 5-0 thrashing of Amiens yesterday. Coach Thomas Tuchel left key men Neymar, Thiago Silva and Thomas Meunier out of the squad altogether at the Parc des Princes with Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Napoli in mind, but PSG had more than enough to see off Amiens.

Brazilian centre-back Marquinhos nodded the hosts into a 12th-minute lead and Adrien Rabiot made it two shortly before half-time. Germany winger Julian Draxler grabbed the third headed goal of the game, and the 19-year-old Mbappe fired in late on to score his ninth goal in just six league matches this season. It was a horrid mismatch with Amiens totally outclassed, and teenager Moussa Diaby came off the bench to complete the rout as the capital-city giants stretched their commanding lead at the top of the table to 11 points.

The champions did not waste much time in forging ahead, as Marquinhos met Angel Di Maria’s inswinging corner with a flicked header into the bottom corner to score his first Ligue 1 goal since May 2017.

PSG were totally dominant-as Edinson Cavani saw a header brilliantly kept out by Amiens goalkeeper Regis Gurtner-but doubled the advantage three minutes before the break with almost a carbon-copy of the first goal.

Di Maria curled in another corner from the right, and this time it was Rabiot who made the near-post run and directed a header into the same corner that Marquinhos had found half an hour earlier.

Cavani wasted a golden opportunity by volleying wide from barely two yards out, but the match was as good as over heading into the second half. Tuchel’s men appeared to have their attentions firmly focused on Napoli as they slipped into cruise control in the second half, happy the stroke the ball around under little to no pressure from an Amiens outfit seemingly pleased to limit the damage.