By S. Willis
All eyes are on Kylian Mbappé after his star turn in PSG’s 2-0 Classique win in Marseille added more epicness to the capital club’s start to the season; LOSC and Montpellier kept pace with wins of their own.
It had been 58 years since a side in one of Europe’s top five leagues won the first 11 matches of their league season – EPL side Tottenham did it back in 1960-61 – but on Sunday night France’s teenage superstar Kylian Mbappé came off the bench and sparked the surge that saw Paris Saint-Germain best arch-rivals Marseille 2-0 and level Spurs’ long-standing record.
The solution
The sides were neck-and-neck in a fascinating contest for the best part of an hour at the Orange Vélodrome, but when Mbappé – who, along with Adrien Rabiot, was left out of the starting line-up for arriving late to the pre-match talk – came on, he took just three minutes to do what none of his teammates had managed.
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“A great team relies on its leaders and they need to make the difference at key times,” said the 19-year-old – whom many believe has a chance to win the Ballon d’Or this year – who now tops the Ligue 1 Conforama scorers chart with ten goals. “I think I can take on that role and I did it today. They had a number of situations where we were in difficulty, and they deserve credit, but we were clinical and came away with the win.”
LOSC keep pace
The win, which saw OM dip to fifth place, sets up an extremely interesting Week 12 clash between the leaders and second-placed LOSC, who stretched their winning run to four matches while making it six from six at home this season with a narrow 1-0 win over Caen.
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“We’re aware that we’re not going to win every game by two or three goals. It was more difficult this evening, but the team controlled the game,” said coach Christophe Galtier, who saw seven-goal top scorer Nicolas Pépé set up Rafael Leao for the winner with a fifth assist of the campaign. “I didn’t feel my team panic and when we opened the scoring, I felt maturity out there on the pitch.”
Montpellier unbeaten in ten!
The win allowed LOSC to remain within eight points of leaders PSG, but wasn’t enough to shake third-placed Montpellier, who stretched their impressive unbeaten run to ten matches with a 3-0 dismantling of Toulouse in the south-western derby.
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“We played very well. We tried to be solid, disciplined, difficult to get past. We didn’t concede and played well,” said MHSC boss Michel Der Zakarian, for whom Toulouse loanee Andy Delort hit a fine goal. “We wanted to stay on the podium, we’ll see if we can make it three wins from three against Marseille [at home in Week 12]. We’ll do all we can to stay near the top.”
OL on track but Henry has to wait…
Olympique Lyonnais climbed into fourth after making it back-to-back wins with a 2-1 victory away to ten-man Angers, Memphis Depay clinching a goal and an assist for Houssem Aouar’s opener.
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Meanwhile Thierry henry made his home league debut as Monaco coach as struggling Dijon came calling, and while his side managed to salvage a point in the 2-2 draw as captain Kamil Glik levelled with 12 minutes to go, the France, arsenal and Monaco legend is still waiting for his first win at the helm of the principality club.
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Sainté, Nice, Nantes for the win
Saint-Etienne had been looking to break into the top four as they travelled to promoted Nîmes on Friday night, but Les Crocodiles are no easybeats and denied Les Verts their first win in three in a 1-1 draw on the south coast.
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Patrick Vieira’s Nice got their first win in four as Wylan Cyprien struck the only goal of the game in Bordeaux, while promoted Reims got their first win since Week 2 with a 2-0 triumph in Rennes, who sit in 14th with just one win in their last six league outings.
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Strasbourg denied bottom club Guingamp just a second win of the season when Kevin Zohi cancelled out Nicolas Benezet’s opener in the 88th minute of their 1-1 draw, while Nantes climbed to 12th on the back of their 2-1 win away to Amiens, making it two wins rom two under new coach Vahid Halilhodzic.
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>> VIDEO: Official match highlights of all the Week 11 action
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