PSG crush Montpellier with Mbappe hitting 20 Ligue 1 goals for first time

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:24 am

Kylian Mbappe scored his 20th goal in 19 Ligue 1 appearances this season as French champions Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Montpellier 5-1 at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday to go 15 points clear at the top of the table.

PSG now have 65 points after the rescheduled match, and a game in hand over second-placed Lille on 50.

It is the first time the 20-year-old France striker, who scored PSG's final goal of the night right-footed from the left of the box in the 79th minute, has netted 20 league goals in a single season.

PSG players celebrate as their victory sees them open up a 15-point lead at the top of the table.
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Full-back Layvin Kurzawa had opened the scoring for the runaway leaders with a 13th-minute header but Florent Mollet equalised in the 31st for the sixth-placed visitors when he fired into the top right corner from a free kick.

Angel Di Maria made it 2-1 from another free kick on the stroke of half-time before a sudden rush of goals in a six-minute spell after the break.

Christopher Nkunku scored in the 73rd with a header off a corner and PSG went 4-1 up after an own goal by Brazilian defender Vitorino Hilton, who deflected in a shot from Mbappe.

The PSG striker made sure his name was on the scoresheet with the home side's fifth a minute later.