The French striker took charge of the finish by scoring a hat-trick on the pitch at Reims (3-0), Saturday in Ligue 1, while the Italian goalkeeper kept his team afloat, particularly in the first period.
“There was a very good goalkeeper in front, and a very, very good striker.” The words of Stade de Reims coach, Will Still, perfectly sum up the Parisian performance in Reims, Saturday November 11. If, at the end of the 12th day, PSG will be leader for the first time this season whatever happens, it owes it mainly to the successful performances of Kylian Mbappé and Gianluigi Donnarumma. The capital club won 3-0 in Champagne on Saturday November 11. A flattering score – “which does not reflect the match at all” according to the words of PSG coach Luis Enrique – in view of the very average performance of the Parisian collective, hampered by the Rémois and uninspired in the construction of the game.
To succeed in making the difference, PSG was able to rely once again on its star, Kylian Mbappé, author of a superb volley in the third minute to ideally launch his formation, and two other goals in the second period (59th and 82nd) to extinguish all suspense. With this hat-trick, the French striker flies to the top of the scorers’ rankings, with 13 goals scored in 12 days. “Of course it feels good to score a hat-trick, but the most important thing is to have a good feeling in the game. In all humility, I don’t need to play well to score goals. But I want to reconcile the two: scoring and playing good football”explained the PSG scorer after the match, speaking to Amazon Prime.
“Donnarumma is at the top of her game”
If Kylian Mbappé’s feelings were good, he was not the only one to take on the mantle of savior of the reigning champion. On the other side of the field, Gianluigi Donnarumma, already very good at Milan in the Champions League despite the defeat (1-2) in midweek, filled the defensive gaps of his team, in difficulty for 80 minutes. The Italian wall produced several decisive parades on its line (39th, 43rd, 55th, 72nd, 76th). “He is impressiverecognized Luis Enrique. He’s always ready to play, always very focused, and it’s difficult to score goals for him. He always performs well, he’s a very high-level goalkeeper.”
Gianluigi Donnarumma wroteœure the Reims attackers, like a helpless Mohamed Daramy. “PSG have a very good goalkeeper, he saved them many times. Donnarumma is so imposing in his goal, he made a lot of saves. He is a top goalkeeper, and we were not lucky in front of the goal”, he regretted. At a press conference, his trainer, Will Still, pushed the envelope a little further: “My only regret is our lack of efficiency, but we are not going to play Donnarumma every week. He is at the top of his game.”
For the spectacle and consistency in the game, Paris will wait. The important thing was elsewhere on the pitch in Reims. “We wanted to take the lead in the championship after the draw in Nice yesterday, it’s done. We’re happy, we can go home”, summarized Kylian Mbappé. The Rémois have a feeling of helplessness after this defeat, and the certainty of having come close to a much more positive result. “But we don’t have 500 million to put on Mbappé and Donnarumma”concluded, laconic, Will Still.