Showing posts with label Montpellier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montpellier. Show all posts

Friday, 22 March 2024

MBAPPÉ HAT-TRICK PROPELLS PSG TO EASY WIN AT MONTPELLIER

 


Kylian Mbappé scored his second hat trick in Ligue 1 this season as leaders Paris Saint-Germain won 6-2 at Montpellier on Sunday, securing their first league win in four matches.

PSG, with 59 points from 26 matches, extended their lead at the top over Brest to 12 points while Montpellier, with 26 points, remain one point above the relegation playoff spot. Brest were earlier held 1-1 at home by Lille.

The visitors took the lead in the 14th minute when Mbappe found Vitinha with a cross from the left after taking a short corner. The Portugal international evaded two defenders before curling the ball home right-footed from the edge of the box.

Mbappe, in his 200th league match for PSG, got on the scoresheet eight minutes later, playing a one-two with Randal Kolo Muani and finishing with his left foot from a difficult angle.

But Montpellier struck back on the half-hour mark with Jordan Ferri's cross from the left eventually falling to Arnaud Nordin inside the box, who headed it in from close range.

The hosts equalised just before half-time when PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma conceded a penalty after colliding with Tanguy Coulibaly inside the box. Montpellier captain Téji Savanier converted the spot kick, sending Donnarumma the wrong way.

But parity was short-lived as Mbappe struck again five minutes into the second half, with his right-footed shot from outside the box hitting the woodwork before finding the net.

PSG extended their lead in the 53rd minute when Lee Kang-in, who scored in the reverse fixture in November, netted his second league goal for the club with a left-footed finish from outside the box, as Muani got his second assist of the match.

Mbappe completed his hat trick 10 minutes later from Vitinha's lofted through ball, taking his goal tally in the campaign to 24 from 24 appearances.

The France international, who is set to leave PSG at the end of the season, has scored 38 goals in all competitions this campaign from 37 appearances.

Nuno Mendes wrapped up the scoring for PSG when his left-footed effort from outside the box found the net in the 89th minute.

Sunday, 3 March 2024

BISSES CARRYING MARSEILLE FANS BACK FROM CLAREMONT PELTED WITH OBJECTS THROWN FROM BRIDGE


 SAINT-ETIENNE, France (AP) — Eight buses carrying Marseille fans back from Clermont after a French league game on Saturday night were pelted with objects thrown from a bridge, the the local prefecture said on Sunday.

The latest bus attack to mar the French league this season occured at around 1:30 a.m. on the A47 motorway heading to Lyon, the Loire prefecture said in a statement, on X, adding that “heavy projectiles” were dropped from an overhead bridge. Some Marseille fans then got off and damaged a car, injuring the driver inside.

An official inquest into the incidents has been opened.

Chunks of rubble, mortar and shards of glass were found inside some of Marseille's buses upon arrival, according to French media reports, and some Marseille fans who got off reportedly had baseball bats ready for a confrontation.

Last month, French soccer club Nice said one of its fans was injured when a bus carrying supporters was pelted with stones after a league game at Lyon.

Earlier this season, Lyon’s team bus was pelted with objects as it approached bitter rival Marseille’s stadium and former Lyon coach Fabio Grosso sustained a serious head injury.

Buses carrying Brest supporters were also targeted after games at Paris Saint-Germain and Montpellier, where a bus was hit by rocks reportedly thrown from a motorway bridge.

This season has been marred by increasing soccer violence in France and elsewhere in Europe, including an incident in which a Greek fan was killed in August following a clash before a Champions League game between AEK Athens and Dinamo Zagreb.

A Nantes fan was stabbed and killed in Nantes before a match against Nice in early December.

Last Saturday, Lille hooligans brawled with Toulouse and PSG hooligans — who have an alliance — in the city center the night before Toulouse's home game with Toulouse.