Mbappe scores hat-trick as PSG hit Montpellier for six

Montpellier's French midfielder Teji Savanier (L) fights for the ball with PSG's French forward Kylian Mbappe (R) during the French L1 football match between Montpellier Herault SC and Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG) at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, southern France, on March 17, 2024. (AFP)

• 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

MONTPELLIER, France: An unstoppable Kylian Mbappe hit a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 6-2 win away to Montpellier on Sunday that allowed them to open up a huge 12-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.
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 meters 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 back-pass before being clattered by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Teji Savanier smashed in the spot-kick, but PSG were back ahead five minutes after the restart as Mbappe scored with a superb shot from range, in off the underside of the crossbar.
South Korean star Lee made it 4-2 on 53 minutes, playing a one-two with Kolo Muani and firing in from outside the area on his left foot.
Mbappe then completed his hat-trick with a right-foot finish after latching onto a ball over the top, before Montpellier had a second penalty award overturned following a VAR review.
Warren Zaire-Emery hit the post for the visitors, and Mendes made it 6-2 a minute from time, bursting into the box to run onto a Vitinha pass and fire in.