Mbappe becomes youngest player to score 50 Ligue 1 goals
Kylian Mbappe became the youngest player to score 50 Ligue 1 goals after his double in Paris Saint-Germain's comfortable 3-0 win over Nimes yesterday morning (Singapore time).
The 20-year-old scored in the 69th and 89th minutes as the runaway league leaders increased their gap on second-placed Lille to 17 points and tightened their grip on the French title.
Mbappe snatched the record from Yannick Stopyra, who according to football statistics database Opta was 21 years, 11 months and nine days old when he hit his 50th top-flight goal in 1982.
"I work every day to try to help my team as much as possible," Mbappe told Canal+.
"Football is still fun for me, and scoring goals and breaking records is what drives me, so I'm very happy."
Christopher Nkunku's 40th-minute strike, which came after a beautiful chipped pass from Marco Verratti, got the ball rolling for Thomas Tuchel's side against mid-table Nimes, who had goalkeeper Paul Bernardoni and poor PSG finishing - in particular from Mbappe - to thank for not taking an even heavier beating at the Parc de Princes.
Mbappe thought he had sneaked in the second goal with his hand just before the break, only to be caught punching instead of heading in Thiago Silva's flick-on via the video assistant referee system and booked for his troubles.
But he doubled PSG's lead in the 69th minute after meeting the surging Juan Bernat's cut back with a first-time finish. In the 89th minute, he finished off a lightning break started by Nkunku to take his league tally for the season to 22 and his career total to 51. - AFP
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