Di Maria, Mbappe shine in PSG’s big win

PARIS: Angel Di Maria scored a sumptuous free-kick and Kylian Mbappe was also on target as Paris Saint-Germain continued their relentless march towards another French title by hammering Montpellier 5-1 on Wednesday.

With Neymar and Edinson Cavani still absent, Layvin Kurzawa also scored for PSG at the Parc des Princes, while two own goals completed the rout.

Florent Mollet had equalised at one point in the first half for the visitors before they crumbled in a rearranged fixture that had initially been postponed in early December due to disruption caused by “yellow vest” anti-government protests in France.

As they warm up for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Manchester United on March 6, PSG are now a huge 15 points clear of second-placed Lille, and still have a game in hand as they race to a sixth Ligue 1 title in seven seasons.

“It came down to patience, and quality, and a bit of luck as well,” said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel after his side maintained their perfect home record in the league this season.

It was also their ninth win by a margin of at least four goals in the current campaign.

He was missing a host of players for this game, with skipper Thiago Silva suspended. French international left-back Kurzawa was making his first start in the league in an injury-hit season and he opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a header from a Daniel Alves cross.

However, Montpellier recovered well from that and claimed a deserved leveller just after the half-hour mark from a Mollet free-kick. Gianluigi Buffon thought he had kept it out, but goal-line technology confirmed the ball had just crossed the line.

Nevertheless, Di Maria restored PSG’s lead in first-half stoppage time with a stunning dead-ball strike from 30 yards that went in off the underside of the bar for his sixth league goal of the season.