Red-hot Mbappe scores hat-trick as PSG hit Montpellier for six
Vitinha put PSG ahead at the Stade de la Mosson and Mbappe doubled their advantage midway through the first half, only for an Arnaud Nordin header and a Teji Savanier penalty to bring Montpellier back level at the interval. However, a marvellous Mbappe goal restored PSG's lead shortly after the break and Lee Kang-in made it 4-2 before the France captain completed his hat-trick.
Nuno Mendes put the seal on the victory late on, as Luis Enrique's side ended a run of three successive draws in Ligue 1 and extended an unbeaten domestic record stretching back to September. A 1-1 draw for nearest challengers Brest against Lille earlier on Sunday means the Parisians are now 12 points ahead at the Ligue 1 summit with only eight games left, and a 10th title in 12 seasons is an inevitability.
Mbappe completed the whole 90 minutes of a Ligue 1 game for the first time since informing the club in mid-February that he intended to leave at the end of the season when his contract expires. His hat-trick, his third of the campaign, took him to 24 goals in Ligue 1 this season, and 38 in all competitions.
Portugal midfielder Vitinha opened the scoring in the 14th minute, collecting Mbappe's pass 25 metres from goal before curling a low shot into the bottom-right corner. Mbappe then made it 2-0 on the counterattack, feeding Randal Kolo Muani and then sprinting to get the ball back and slot into the far corner from a tight angle.
Montpellier got one back when Danilo Pereira could only help on a cross from the left and Nordin - a friend of Mbappe's as a youngster at Clairefontaine, France's national youth academy - headed in at the back post. The home side then won a penalty right on half-time when Tanguy Coulibaly pounced on Pereira's short
Read on besoccer.com
