Kylian Mbappé not only secured the win on Saturday evening with his goal in added time to make it 4-2 against FC Nantes – he also set a best performance: It was the 201st competitive goal of the 24-year-old world champion from 2018 for Paris Saint-Germain , with which Mbappé has now met more often than the former club saint Edinson Cavani. There was congratulations not only from the dethroned record holder from Uruguay, but also from PSG coach Christophe Galtier: “In my opinion, he is the best striker in the world. We are happy to have him in Paris and in our league.”
The stadium was the “Prince of the Park”, as the newspaper called it The Team called, celebrated with the greatest possible enthusiasm. It was quite likely that this historic moment would come about. The club had wisely had flags made with the new record number and prepared a small fireworks display in the Prinzenpark. The jubilee couldn’t stop beaming and made big commitments: “I always want to get higher – as long as it’s here in Paris,” said Mbappé after the game. He is very happy at PSG and can’t think of anything else than having wonderful days with this club. And he looked ahead to the Champions League round of 16 second leg at Bayern, in which his offensive colleague Neymar will definitely be missing: “It starts on Wednesday, we’ll try to get through.”
Since the 0-1 defeat against Munich in the first leg, the Parisians have won three leagues in a row, scoring eleven goals, but only fully convinced in second-placed Olympique Marseille (3-0). It was also pretty bumpy against Nantes, after Lionel Messi’s 1-0 (12th) and an own goal by Parisian Jaouen Hadjam (2-0/17th), it only looked like a relaxed evening for Galtier’s luxury ensemble for a while.
Then Ludovic Blas, who may soon become another million-seller from Ligue 1, duped PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with a spirited shot from a tight angle into the near corner (31′). And Ignatius Ganago made it 2-2 after a corner kick (38′). Once again, the Italian PSG keeper did not make the safest impression, especially since he was responsible for the corner himself after a partially successful defense of a shot by former Schalke player Florent Mollet.
PSG’s injury worries continue
The fact that it was still enough to win in the end was mainly due to Mbappé, who prepared the 3: 2 with Danilo Pereira’s header with a perfect cross (60th) and set the final point himself. And yet, despite all the euphoria about the flagship striker, there was again a lot of hair in the PSG soup: captain and defense chief Marquinhos had to leave early with a bruised rib, and former Leipzig player Nordi Mukiele was also unable to play through because of a kick on his heel. Although Galtier does not believe that their participation in Munich could be endangered, further failures in cover would hardly be able to be compensated.
Because in addition to Presnel Kimpembe, who will be out until the end of the season due to a torn Achilles tendon, Achraf Hakimi is also at risk. The reason is stubborn muscular problems that have hampered the Moroccan since the World Cup. The fact that he was interrogated by the police on Friday and accused of rape apparently does not play a role in the right-back’s availability for the time being: he was allowed to leave the country despite the allegations for the game in Munich, the broadcaster RMC Sport reported.
