Lyon 1-4 PSG: Mbappe bags brace in routine victory

Kylian Mbappe struck twice as champions Paris St Germain powered to a 4-1 win over troubled Lyon in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

It continued the France World Cup-winner’s strong start to the season after a summer overshadowed by a high-profile contract dispute.

Achraf Hakimi and Marco Asensio also got on the scoresheet as PSG effectively wrapped up victory with all four of their goals in the first half at the Groupama Stadium.

Corentin Tolisso scored a second-half consolation for the hosts but the result piled on the pressure for under-fire Lyon manager Laurent Blanc.

Blanc’s side are now bottom of the table with just one point from four games and were booed off at half-time and the end of the game.

Mbappe, by contrast, is enjoying an upturn in fortunes. After months of headlines and speculation relating to his future, the forward let his football do the talking in recent weeks.

The 24-year-old scored three goals in his first two outings of the season and bagged another after just four minutes after PSG were awarded an early penalty.

Tolisso was the guilty party as he brought down Manuel Ugarte and Mbappe made no mistake from the spot.

Rayan Cherki fired wide at the other end but Vitinha and Mbappe both went close to a second for PSG before Hakimi did double the lead when he pounced on a rebound after 20 minutes.

Duje Caleta-Car and Cherki both had opportunities as Lyon responded but Hakimi hit the crossbar for PSG and the visitors took firm control when Ugarte teed up Asensio for a third, seven minutes before the interval.

PSG were not finished there as a quick break led to Asensio releasing Mbappe and the striker showed great football to slot his second in first-half injury time.

Lyon were booed off at the break and things almost got worse after the resumption when a looping Ousmane Dembele header hit the crossbar.

The hosts did pull one back after Warren Zaire-Emery brought down Nicolas Tagliafico and Tolisso converted the resulting penalty after 74 minutes but it was never going to change the outcome.

PSG eased off in the final stages as they closed out a comfortable victory.

Mbappe had a chance to complete a hat-trick in injury time but lashed the ball into the side-netting.