PARIS: A clinical Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain won 3-0 away to high-flying Reims on Saturday and moved to the top of the Ligue 1 table.
Mbappe opened the scoring in the third minute in Champagne country and then netted twice more in the second half to give PSG a win which moved the reigning champions to the summit a point above Nice, who drew at Montpellier on Friday.
PSG were also grateful to goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma who denied Reims a route back into the game with a string of superb saves, as Luis Enrique’s team recovered from their midweek Champions League loss away to AC Milan.
Mbappe is Ligue 1’s leading scorer with 13 goals in 11 appearances this season, with the France captain also having netted twice in European competition.
That 2-1 defeat in Milan on Tuesday left PSG’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout phase in the balance with two group games still to go, but they do finally appear to have found their rhythm domestically after a stuttering start to the campaign.
Luis Enrique’s team were targeting a fifth straight victory in Ligue 1 and they went ahead almost from the off as Mbappe met Ousmane Dembele’s cross from the right with a superb side-foot volley low across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner of the net.
Reims were denied an equalizer as a fine goal by Japanese international Junya Ito was disallowed for offside, and the same player was later denied by Donnarumma who also produced a superb reaction save from Amir Richardson before the interval.
A PSG side missing the suspended Achraf Hakimi and Randal Kolo Muani were again grateful to Donnarumma when the Italian repelled a Marshall Munetsi header on 56 minutes, and three minutes later they went 2-0 up.
Mbappe evaded his marker with a brilliant darting run to the back post where he converted a perfect assist rolled across the face of goal by Carlos Soler.
Donnarumma was at it again as he once more denied Zimbabwe midfielder Munetsi, before Mbappe finished off a cutback from substitute Bradley Barcola to make it 3-0 with eight minutes left.
Nice are still unbeaten this season after their stalemate on Friday in Montpellier, and they have still not been behind in a single game this season.
Third-placed Monaco can leapfrog their Cote d’Azur rivals on goal difference with a win in Saturday’s late game at Le Havre.
Mbappe bags hat-trick as PSG go top of Ligue 1
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Mbappe bags hat-trick as PSG go top of Ligue 1
- PSG were also grateful to goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma
- Mbappe is Ligue 1’s leading scorer with 13 goals in 11 appearances
Argentina football exec barred from leaving country in tax probe
- Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia was summoned to appear in court on March 5
- Other AFA executives were also slapped with a travel ban
BUENOS AIRES: A court has barred the president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA) from leaving the country and summoned him to testify in a tax evasion case, according to the ruling cited by media Thursday.
Claudio “Chiqui” Tapia was summoned to appear in court on March 5 over a complaint filed by Argentina’s ARCA tax collection agency over alleged tax evasion and misappropriation of social security funds.
Other AFA executives were also slapped with a travel ban “in light of the seriousness of the events under investigation,” according to the summons.
Authorities are investigating whether the AFA illegally withheld pension contributions for players and employees and failed to pay taxes due between March 2024 and September 2025.
In December, police raided the association’s headquarters in Buenos Aires just months before the world champions defend their title at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The AFA insists it is the victim of a smear campaign amid a dispute with a businessman over the organization of friendly matches for the Argentine national soccer team.
The association claims the businessman is at the root of the complaints against it, with the knowledge of the government of President Javier Milei.
Milei favors turning football clubs, which are non-profit associations, into publicly traded sports companies.
AFA rules do not allow this.
