France forward, Kylian Mbappe, became Paris Saint-Germain’s all-time top scorer with his 201st goal for the club as the Ligue 1 leaders warmed up for their crunch trip to Bayern Munich with a 4-2 win over Nantes on Saturday.
The France superstar had equalled Edinson Cavani’s previous record mark of 200 goals with a brace in last week’s win at Marseille and went one better by netting in stoppage time at the Parc des Princes.
PSG had earlier squandered a two-goal lead, with Lionel Messi putting them ahead and a Jaouen Hadjam own goal making it 2-0 inside 17 minutes before Nantes fought back to draw level.
Ludovic Blas pulled one back for the visitors and Ignatius Ganago equalised, but Mbappe set up Danilo Pereira to put PSG back in front on the hour mark and then claimed his record-breaking goal late on.
Mbappe reached the record in just 247 appearances since signing from Monaco aged 18 in 2017.
READ ALSO: Arsenal recover from 2-0 to beat Bournemouth
Uruguay star Cavani needed 298 games, and seven years, to establish the previous record in 2020.
The 24-year-old player was handed a trophy by the club after the game to mark his record in an on-field presentation.
“I play to make history and I have always said I wanted to make history in France, in the capital of my country, in my city, and I am doing that. It’s magnificent, but there is still a lot to be done.
“For me, as a native Parisian, this is special. If someone had said to me I would score the goal to beat the record while wearing the captain’s armband, I would not have believed it,” Mbappe, who finished the game as captain, said.
The result saw PSG open up a lead of 11 points at the top of Ligue 1 before nearest rivals Marseille play on Sunday, and before the Qatar-owned club go to Bayern for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.
PSG trail 1-0 from the first leg against the Bavarians and failure to progress to the quarter-finals in Europe would put a major dampener on the end of their season.
Injured Moroccan star Achraf Hakimi watched from the stands at the Parc des Princes a day after he was charged with rape following accusations made by a 24-year-old woman.
Neymar was also a spectator and will not be back for the match against Bayern, while centre-back Presnel Kimpembe is set to miss the remainder of the season with an achilles injury.
Coach Christophe Galtier lost two more defenders to injury in the second half against Nantes, with skipper Marquinhos and stand-in right-back Nordi Mukiele both having to come off.
- Christmas: Let’s be instruments of peace, Uba Sani urges Christians - December 25, 2024
- Tinubu felicitates Christians on Christmas, says Nigeria on path of restoration - December 24, 2024
- Court sends oil magnate to prison for diverting $26m refinery fund - December 24, 2024
