Kylian Mbappe scored in his second straight game for Paris Saint-Germain, showing exactly why the French champions needed him to stay. The forward netted twice on his full return from exile, banging in the second and third of a comprehensive PSG win as they saw off one of their most obvious title rivals, Lens.
Mbappe was by some distance the best player on the pitch, and seems to have started to reclaim the love of the Paris faithful after leading the reigning Ligue 1 champions to a 3-1 win.
PSG found themselves lacking in front of goal for most of the first half. Vitinha came close, Mbappe forced a fine clearance off the line and Achraf Hakimi skewed a shot narrowly wide. But it was Marcos Asensio who eventually found the breakthrough. It was the kind of goal he's scored countless of times, a shimmy onto his left foot and curled finish into the bottom corner.
Mbappe added a second just after the break, starting a move with a tidy layoff around the halfway line, before finishing it with a side-footed whack from just outside the box.
And there could have been more. Hakimi wasted another chance, Ousmane Dembele found the side netting and Asensio headed wide. All the while Lens — now without star striker Lois Openda following his departure to RB Leipzig — struggled to break down an organised PSG defence, only breaching the goal with a deflected strike late on.
Mbappe got his second in second-half stoppage time, an admittedly fortunate strike finding the bottom corner after a couple of ricochets. Still, it was no more than he deserved after turning in the kind of showing that proves just how good he — and his team — can be this year.
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