European roundup: Kylian Mbappé breaks PSG goalscoring record
Kylian Mbappé became Paris Saint-Germain’s all-time leading scorer with his 201st goal in the 4-2 Ligue 1 victory over Nantes. The 24-year-old forward drew level with Edinson Cavani when he scored two goals against Marseille last weekend.
He had to wait until injury time at the end of this game for his moment, turning smartly and slotting into the bottom corner to add gloss to a victory that puts PSG 11 points clear at the top.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the 12th minute and PSG looked in complete control when Jaouen Hadjam put through his own net soon after, but Nantes fought back to equalise through Ludovic Blas and Ignatius Ganago.
It took until the hour mark for PSG to move back in front, Mbappé setting up Danilo Pereira before applying the coup de grace himself.
Lens’s Champions League hopes suffered another knock when they were held to a 1-1 home draw by neighbouring Lille. Lens are third on 51 points from 26 games but have won only one of their last seven league matches.
Bayern Munich snatched a 2-1 victory at VfB Stuttgart courtesy of a fine Matthijs de Ligt performance that put them back into top spot in the Bundesliga. The Dutch defender drilled in their opening goal in the 39th minute after also denying Stuttgart the lead two minutes earlier when he cleared the ball off the goalline.
Bayern, who face Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League last-16 second leg on Wednesday after their 1-0 victory in the first leg, are on 49 points, ahead on goal difference of Borussia Dortmund, who beat RB Leipzig 2-1 on Friday. Union Berlin are in third on 44 after their goalless home draw with Cologne.
Stuttgart powered to a strong start and caused some early panic in the Bayern defence with their high pressing game while also keeping the goalkeeper Yann Sommer busy before the visitors gradually pushed back.
Despite controlling possession in the first half, Bayern struggled to break through and even the occasional Jamal Musiala solo run failed to crack open the Stuttgart backline.
It was De Ligt who had the answer when he wrongfooted his marker and unleashed a shot through a crowded box with the Stuttgart keeper Fabian Bredlow letting the ball slip through his hands.
Just two minutes earlier De Ligt came to the rescue at the other end, clearing a point-blank Konstantinos Mavropanos effort off the line.
With Stuttgart having run out of steam, Bayern struck again with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting – fresh from extending his contract on Friday – finishing off a dazzling three-pass move that left their opponents’ defence frozen in place. It was the Cameroon forward’s 10th league goal of the season.
Stuttgart grabbed a deserved goal through Juan José Perea in the 88th minute that injected some late drama but the hosts ran out of time before they could find an equaliser.
Union Berlin stumbled to a goalless draw against Cologne, losing further ground in the Bundesliga race with their third consecutive league game without a win. The hosts were toothless throughout and had Frederik Rønnow to thank for rescuing a point, with the keeper making three superb onehanded saves in the second half to stop Cologne.
Union, who won the first five league matches of the year but have nmanaged just two points from the last three, rarely broke through the visitors’ tight defence. When they did come near the box they were let down by poor passing and sloppy finish.
In Italy, a penalty from Nicolás González just after half-time and an 87th-minute goal from Luka Jovic put Fiorentina 2-0 up against Milan. Theo Hernandez scored in added time but Fiorentina held on for the win. Atalanta were held to a goalless draw at home by Udinese, further threatening their topsix presence.
Udinese could have taken the lead in the 17th minute through Sandi Lovric but the midfielder’s powerful strike flew just over the bar.
The visitors had another chance just before the half-hour mark when the striker Beto found himself oneon-one with the Atalanta keeper Juan Musso, who launched himself to prevent the Portuguese from taking a shot.*
Atalanta, who dominated possession and had 17 goal attempts, could have bagged a late winner in the 90th minute but the Udinese keeper Marco Silvestri made a brilliant save to parry the ball over the bar.
Atalanta, now winless in four of their last five league games, remain sixth on 42 points. Udinese, who have won only once in Serie A in their last 17 games, moved two places up to ninth on 32 points.
Atlético Madrid thumped Sevilla 6-1 to climb up to third place in La Liga.
There were doubles from Memphis Depay and Álvaro Morata and one each for Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco, with Sevilla’s sole strike coming from Youssef En-Nesyri before they had Pape Gueye sent off late on.
Late goals from Gerard Moreno and José Luis Morales earned sixth-placed Villarreal a 2-1 victory over struggling Almería.