Kylian Mbappe, Randal Kolo Muani and Lee Kang-in were all on target as Paris Saint-Germain got back to winning ways in the Champions League with an impressive 3-0 home victory against AC Milan on Wednesday.
PSG were eager to bounce back from their 4-1 defeat away to Newcastle United three weeks ago and they ultimately had too much attacking quality for their Italian visitors at the Parc des Princes.
Three goals, three points! ✅A fine performance Milan for our second @ChampionsLeague win of the season.
❤️ #PSGACM I #UCL pic.twitter.com/UVh15zNOBH
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) October 25, 2023
Mbappe opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark with his 10th club goal this season, and his France teammate Kolo Muani added another shortly after half-time.
Lee then came off the bench to net the third late on, the South Korean star’s first for the club.
PSG thoroughly deserved their win, with the Ligue 1 side a different proposition from the disjointed team that was overloaded with forwards and overrun in midfield against Newcastle.
“We are very proud of our performance,” Kolo Muani told broadcaster Canal Plus.
“Winning these games gives everyone confidence and we need to carry on this way.”
Having started their European campaign with a 2-0 home win against Borussia Dortmund, PSG top Group F with six points ahead of a trip to Milan next.
The seven-time European champions are bottom of the section with two points and a big concern for Stefano Pioli’s side will be that they have yet to score in the group.
“Obviously we are not in a good position,” Pioli admitted.
“I was hoping Newcastle wouldn’t beat Dortmund because that would help us but we can’t just hope for other results to go our way.”
This game saw French international brothers Lucas Hernandez, the PSG defender, and Theo, the Milan captain, come up against each other.
It also saw PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and his Milan counterpart Mike Maignan face the clubs with whom they started their careers.
Warren Zaïre-Emery vs AC Milan:◉ 90 minutes◉ 63 touches◉ 2 assists◉ 42 accurate passes out of 47 (89%)◉ 2 ground duels won◉ 4 key passes◉ 1 big chance created◉ 2 ground duels won◉ 1 interception◉ 2 clearances
Just 17 years old, what a player. ✨ pic.twitter.com/ewlL9I0eaP
— PSG Report (@PSG_Report) October 25, 2023
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Meanwhile, the 17-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery was exceptional in PSG’s midfield and his performance will not have gone unnoticed by France coach Didier Deschamps, who was watching from the stands.
“I am very pleased to be the man of the match, but it is a team effort first and foremost,” Zaire-Emery told Canal Plus.
“He does everything well, defensively and in attack. He is aggressive, good technically, has good vision, can score and set up goals,” said coach Luis Enrique.
But the stars of the show were elsewhere, with Mbappe –- who was hugged by a pitch invader in the first half — looking arguably sharper than he has done at any point up to now this season for PSG.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - AFP)