Kylian Mbappe stars as Paris St Germain down 10-man Lens to extend Ligue 1 lead
Kylian Mbappe helped Paris St Germain move eight points clear at the top of Ligue 1 following a 2-0 win at 10-man Lens.
Closest challengers Nice’s defeat at Rennes 24 hours earlier presented PSG with an opportunity to extend their advantage at the summit and the defending champions fully capitalised in northern France.
Mbappe teed up Bradley Barcola to open the scoring from an acute angle after half an hour before the provider turned goalscorer in the 89th minute with a low finish beyond Brice Samba following a PSG counter-attack.
V I C T O R Y
Paris Saint-Germain earns 3⃣ points in Lens!
LET’S GO PARIS #RCLPSG pic.twitter.com/O81yqzxObc
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) January 14, 2024
Lens were left to rue Przemyslaw Frankowski having his early penalty saved while their efforts to get back into the contests were hampered when Jonathan Gradit was sent off just before half-time.
Ultimately, Mbappe’s 19th league goal of the season in just his 17th appearance wrapped up the points for PSG, who are unbeaten in all competitions since November 7.
PSG took amateurs Revel to task in the French Cup last weekend in a 9-0 rout but had not won at Lens’ Stade Bollaert-Delelis since 2014, losing twice during their last three visits and drawing the other.
They could have fallen behind after seven minutes as Danilo Pereira hauled down Elye Wahi in the box but Frankowski slammed his spot-kick straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma, who saved with his legs.
Donnarumma barely had to move as Frankowski went down the middle and PSG were given a major reprieve.
Bradley Barcola
Donnarumma then saved well from Wahi’s effort before home defender Kevin Danso spurned a glorious chance when he directed a free header from a corner over the bar.
Lens’ failure to
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