With a 3-0 win over 10-man Nantes on Saturday, Paris Saint-Germain made it five wins from six Ligue 1 games this season.
Mbappe put the champions ahead shortly before the halftime break with his sixth league goal of the season, before Nantes winger Fabio was sent off for a high challenge.
The France international scored his second goal early in the second half, and Nuno Mendes added a third as Christophe Galtier’s men cruised to victory.
PSG regained control of Ligue 1 after Marseille briefly surpassed them earlier in the day with a win over Auxerre, while Nantes remained in 10th place.
Nantes’ Samuel Moutoussamy scored early on, while Danilo Pereira and Marquinhos went close at the other end as the visitors began to flex their muscles.
After being played in by Lionel Messi at the end of an incisive counter-attacking move, Mbappe deservedly put PSG ahead in the 18th minute with a whipped effort past Alban Lafont.
Six minutes later, Nantes’ task was made much more difficult when Fabio was shown a straight red card for an ugly lunge on Vitinha.
Mbappe prodded home from six yards after being picked out by Messi in the 54th minute, effectively putting the game out of reach. The goal was eventually given after a lengthy VAR review for a possible offside.
Substitute With the goal at his disposal, Neymar inexplicably hit the post, but his blushes were spared when Mendes fired in the rebound for his first PSG goal.
What does it imply? Nantes is annihilated by the tenacious champions.
Nantes held PSG at bay for 18 minutes, but when Mbappe finished off a flowing move, there was only one winner.
As a result, PSG has now won seven of their last eight Ligue 1 away games, scoring 34 goals while conceding only five.
Messi is magnificent.
Mbappe’s brace will get the most attention, but Messi was at his unstoppable best here.
The Argentina maestro set up both of Mbappe’s goals with two of his three key passes, a total unrivaled on the pitch.
Fabio is a moron.
Nantes were already 1-0 down when Fabio raked his studs down Vitinha’s leg, and any hopes of a comeback were dashed with his dismissal.
Antoine Kombouare, the manager, will be furious with the former Manchester United player’s recklessness.
Important Opta Facts
- PSG have scored 24 goals after six games in Ligue 1 2022/23, matching the record for goals scored in Europe’s top five leagues at this stage of a season in the twenty-first century (24 for Manchester City in 2019/20 and Bayern Munich in 2020/21).
- Lionel Messi has 20 assists in 32 Ligue 1 games. Only Angel Di Maria (in 31 games) has reached this milestone faster in the Premier League since Opta began tracking the competition (2006/07). Kylian Mbappé has received 11 of the Argentine’s 20 assists.
- Only Andrei Girotto, another Nantes player (5), has received more red cards since his Ligue 1 debut (29 September 2018).
- Kylian Mbappe (35 goals, 9 assists), Neymar (26 goals, 17 assists), and Lionel Messi (24 goals, 8 assists) are the three players with the most goals in Ligue 1 in 2022.
What comes next?
Both teams are in European action in midweek, with PSG hosting Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday and Nantes hosting Olympiacos in the Europa League two days later.