Mbappe fires PSG past Real Sociedad
Kylian Mbappe lethally fired Paris Saint-Germain into the Champions League quarter-finals with a brace in a 2-1 win at Real Sociedad on Tuesday, his team cruising through 4-1 on aggregate. Coach Luis Enrique has slashed Mbappe’s minutes in recent weeks after the player told the club he would leave at the end of the season, but the France captain proved he will be vital if PSG are to finally win the competition for the first time.
The electric Mbappe was impossible for Real Sociedad to shackle and his strikes after 15 and 56 minutes left the Ligue 1 leaders with a simple night in the north of Spain. “We are very happy, it was the objective,” Mbappe told Canal Plus. “We wanted to qualify but today we also wanted to win and give ourselves a bit of an easier game. That is what we did. “We had a clear game plan. We managed to score early and, above all, we managed to avoid getting into any major difficulty.”
Heavily linked to Real Madrid, the determined Mbappe gave La Liga’s defences a glimpse of what horrors may await them next season. The forward, who also netted in the first leg, fired over in the opening stages and then blazed past Hamari Traore to set up Bradley Barcola, but Alex Remiro denied him from point-blank range. It was not so much that Real Sociedad did not heed the warning but simply could not stop the 25-year-old. Played into the box but wide of goal, Mbappe produced the opener from thin air.
With a couple of clever touches he sent Igor Zubeldia scrambling and opened up enough space for a shot,
Abdullah Al Mayouf. Ittihad’s miserable night was complete just after the hour, when Kante was given a straight red for a late challenge on Kalidou Koulibaly, another former Chelsea player. Kante had initially been booked, only for the referee to overturn the decision following a VAR review. The winner of the tie will contest the semi-final against either fellow Saudi side Al Nassr or Al Ain of the UAE. Al Ain, 2003 Asian champions, defeated Cristiano Ronaldo’s Nassr 1-0 at home in their first leg on Monday.
Ulsan leave it late
Earlier on Tuesday, Ulsan fought back in the second half to claim a 1-1 draw with South Korean rivals Jeonbuk Motors in the first leg of their last-eight tie. Song Minkyu gave Jeonbuk a fourth-minute lead at their Jeonju World Cup Stadium before Brazilian Tiago Orobo fluffed a chance to double their lead when he crashed a penalty against the crossbar.
Ulsan, domestic K-League champions for the past two which he whipped into the far corner from a tight angle. Mbappe’s vicious strike pulled part of the netting away from the post and players had to wait until it was fixed for play to resume. They might not have bothered — the contest was effectively over.
Mbappe stretched PSG’s lead 11 minutes into the second half, racing in behind the defence from the halfway line. The striker shaped another shot to the far post but then tricked Remiro by sweeping home at the near for his sixth goal in eight Champions League matches this season. Real Sociedad began to throw all they had at PSG, but it was too little, too late. Substitute Ander Barrenetxea had a goal ruled out for a tight offside moments after coming on. — AFP
seasons, looked out of ideas in the first half but they came roaring back after the break and Lee Myung-jae grabbed an equalizer in the 77th minute. The two teams will meet again in next week’s second leg, with the winner going on to face either China’s Shandong Taishan or Japan’s Yokohama F-Marinos in the semi-finals. Ulsan and Jeonbuk have shared the last seven K-League titles but it was Jeonbuk who dominated the first half.
Dan Petrescu’s side took advantage of some sloppy defending to open the scoring with the game just minutes old. Lee Dong-jun raced down the wing before delivering a cross that Song tucked home with minimal resistance from the Ulsan defense. Jeonbuk had the chance to add a second midway through the first half when the referee pointed to the penalty spot after Lee Myung-jae had brought down Lee Dong-jun charging into the box. But Orobo smashed his kick against the crossbar with South Korean international goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo beaten.