Kylian Mbappé notched a hat-trick, including the opener after nine seconds, as a rampant Paris Saint-Germain trounced LOSC Lille 7-1 away on Sunday evening.
LOSC Lille 1-7 Paris Saint-Germain
THE MATCH
PSG had been in ominous form in the opening weeks of the season but they took things to a new level here against 2021 champions Lille, with Neymar Jr. scoring twice and Lionel Messi and Achraf Hakimi once each in the far north, to leave the home side utterly shellshocked.
There was no coming back for Lille after they fell behind immediately from kick-off, with Messi’s ball over the top releasing Mbappé, who lobbed the advancing Léo Jardim to make it 1-0.
Lille would have feared the worst then, and they went on to concede a record home defeat, with the visitors doubling their lead just before the half-hour mark when Messi picked out Nuno Mendes on the left and then continued into the penalty box to meet the Portuguese wing-back’s low cross and stroke the ball into the bottom corner for his fourth goal in four games this season.
It was 4-0 at half-time, with Neymar setting up Hakimi to score the third before a Messi pass came off a Lille player but fell perfectly for the Brazilian to get his name on the scoresheet in the 43rd minute.
There was no let-up after the break, with Mbappé leaving a Hakimi pass for Neymar to fire in his second and PSG’s fifth goal in the 52nd minute. Lille did quickly pull one back through Jonathan Bamba, who scored from close range after being set up by Ismaily (54’), but the visitors were not finished. Neymar set up Mbappé to score his second of the night midway through the second half, and the Brazilian again set up the France superstar to smash in three minutes from time to complete his hat-trick and round out a stunning 7-1 victory.
It is three wins out of three in Ligue 1 for PSG under Christophe Galtier, and they have scored 21 goals in four games in all competitions. This was Lille’s heaviest ever home loss, eclipsing a 6-1 reverse at the hands of RC Paris in 1958. They used to love Galtier, but they will be sick of the sight of the man who also won 4-0 in Lille last season with OGC Nice. Yet really there is no disgrace in losing to this PSG side who are simply streets ahead of everyone else in France.
THE PLAYER: Kylian Mbappé
Mbappé endured a frustrating night against Montpellier Hérault SC last weekend, despite scoring his first goal of the season, as he had a penalty saved and appeared frustrated and unhappy on the field. The contrast here was stark, as he opened the scoring inside 10 seconds and went on to grab a hat-trick. Suggestions that he has a difficult relationship with Neymar were also made to look stupid – the duo seemed to get on swimmingly on the pitch and the Brazilian set up two of Mbappé’s goals while also scoring two of his own.
THE STAT: 9
The number of seconds it took for Mbappé to open the scoring. The quickest goal in the top flight was scored by Michel Rio for SM Caen in 1992, after just eight seconds.
