Magic Mbappe gives PSG the edge over bottom side Angers
Surprisingly, Angers had the first opportunity as Batista Mendy slipped through Ibrahima Niane, but the forward’s tame effort offered an indication of why Le SCO’s starting lineup had managed just six league goals between them this term.
Normal service quickly resumed, as Kylian Mbappe scored his 21st of the campaign to reclaim his place as Ligue 1’s standalone top-scorer just eight minutes in, swivelling to turn the ball home at the second attempt after Lionel Messi and Juan Bernat combined marvellously to tee him up.
Jean-Matteo Bahoya then had an opportunity to mark his first-ever senior start with a dream equaliser, but the 17-year-old sent his attempt spinning horribly wide.
The same wastefulness wasn’t on display from the clinical Mbappe after another exquisite Messi pass shortly before the half-hour mark, as he rounded Paul Bernardoni and turned home his 10th goal in eight meetings with Angers.
This embodied the effortlessness in PSG’s play that even earned excitable squeals from some home fans, and while that also translated to lax defending at times, it saw Messi drift through the middle before hitting a venomous strike that was awkwardly palmed away.
Despite PSG’s defence continuing to look careless at times, Gianluigi Donnarumma remained untested as Angers struggled to produce much quality of their own.
Achraf Hakimi was equally casual in front of goal, firing off target from a promising opportunity when the ball fell to him on the edge of the box. In fact, PSG offered very little excitement for large periods of the second half, having slipped into cruise control while Alexandre Dujeux valiantly searched for a route to goal.
The hosts eventually had something to celebrate when their substitutes combined with Abdallah Sima heading the ball down for Sada Thioub to fire home, but that strike proved little more than a consolation, and Angers will still suffer relegation at the earliest stage since Troyes in 2015/16 if results go against them this weekend. At the other end of the table, PSG secured their third consecutive Ligue 1 win to take yet another step towards a record 11th French league title.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
Check out all the stats from the Ligue 1 clash with Flashscore.