PSG take five-point lead in Ligue 1 as World Cup bounds find the net
PARIS Saint-Germain restored their five-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 ahead of the World Cup break with a routine 5-0 win over Auxerre at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.
Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring early on following some good build-up play from Lionel Messi, who returned from injury to join the France forward and Neymar in attack. A seventh win in a row for PSG in all competitions never looked in doubt when Carlos Soler added a second goal and then assisted Achraf Hakimi for the home side’s third.
Christophe Galtier made full use of his squad depth and substitutes Renato Sanches and Hugo Ekitike added gloss to the scoreline with a couple of late goals.
The serene nature of the contest ensured Galtier could replace a number of PSG’s Qatar-bound stars, with no players sustaining an injury problem of any sort.
Messi sent a delightful lofted ball over the Auxerre defence for Nuno Mendes to deliver
a first-time pass towards Mbappe, who in turn helped it over the line with 11 minutes gone.
The goal stood following a VAR check for a possible handball against Neymar, but Auxerre nearly levelled as M’Baye Niang forced Gianluigi Donnarumma
into a fine save.
PSG toiled before Mendes took the ball past a couple of players and picked out Soler to glance a header away from Benoit Costil and in off the far post early in the second half.
Soler turned provider six minutes later when playing in
Hakimi to coolly slot past Costil from a one-on-one position.
Messi hit the post but could not get his name on the scoresheet, though Sanches fired in off the post before fellow substitute Ekitike profited from some poor defending to coolly add a fifth.