Mbappe shares birthday joy as PSG canter past Metz
With over half of their points tally in the league coming at the Parc des Princes, PSG went into the match as heavy favourites against a Metz side who were winless at the home of the Parisians in 16 matches (D3, L13), with their last victory coming in 1996. It was clear right from the off that it was going to be a one-sided affair as Luis Enrique’s men took full control of possession with 84% of the ball in the opening quarter-hour.
The Metz defenders put their bodies on the line to protect their goal, and this was symbolised after Bradley Barcola’s cross into the box caused a scramble and Vitinha pounced on the loose ball, only to be denied by two goal-line blocks.
The home side continued to produce a barrage of attacks in the final third but without actually testing Alexandre Oukidja. Instead, the closest anyone came to opening the deadlock in the first half was the visitors after a rare counter attack saw Kevin Van Den Kerkhof break forward down the right flank and his cross into the box was inadvertently headed onto the post by Danilo Pereira, with the woodwork saving the Portuguese midfielder.
Whatever Enrique said to his PSG players during the break had an almost immediate effect as the hosts opened the scoring within four minutes of the restart as Lee Kang-in cut in from the right and clipped a ball into the box which Vitinha guided into the back of the net.
Kylian Mbappe was having a frustrating evening with several pop-shots from outside the box flying high and wide. Those efforts didn’t deter the birthday boy from trying again though, and on the hour mark he produced a sublime curling effort that went in-off the crossbar for his 17th league goal of the season.
Two goals to the good, it looked like the home side were going to ease their way to victory in their last game of the year but things were suddenly thrown into the air as Metz pulled a goal back in the 72nd minute as Matthieu Udol got to the ball first at the near post to nod in from Lamine Camara’s corner kick. The away side clearly gained a confidence boost from the unlikely goal and they continued to push to draw level.
However, any hopes of a comeback were ended when Joseph N'Duquidi played a wayward back pass towards his goalkeeper, allowing Mbappe to use his lightning pace to intercept, round Oukidja and tap into an empty net. His birthday night was made even more special late on as his younger brother, Ethan Mbappé made his professional debut at 16-years-old.
In the end, Enrique’s men comfortably saw out the victory as they end the year five points ahead of second-place AS Monaco, while Metz remain just two points off the relegation play-off spot.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
