Imperial Paris!

The Context:
To open Week 12 of the Ligue 1 season, the Parc des Princes was the scene for a top of the table clash. To try and keep pace with Les Rouge et Bleu, second-placed Lille had arguments of their own (3rd-best attack and 3rd-best defence in L1), and their stars in attack: Bamba and Pepe (7 goals each). Against a Lille side that had made their best start to a Ligue 1 season in 66 years, Thomas Tuchel's side were looking to extend their lead at the top to 11 points…

The Match Highlights:
Fans may not be used to it these days at the Parc, but tonight, you had to show a little patience to see the habitual excellence. Lille's disciplined approach held firm for a long time... but not indefintely... In the first half, Neymar Jr combined with Mbappé as the latter's shot flashed just wide of Mike Maignan's post (10'), before the Lille 'keeper denied Angel Di Maria (22'), playing his 100th Lige 1 match. Marquinhos (23') and then Meunier (30') had chances as Paris laid siege to the Lille goal... Maignan then needed the help of the post to keep out a shot direct from the corner from Di Maria (40'). Despite the constant pressing from the capital club, LOSC were holding firm...

After the break, the pressure climbed another notch on Les Dogues' goal. Balls in behind, between the lines, down the wings: Paris Saint-Germain were attacking from all angles. In the end, the breakthrough came from the home team's prodigy. Set free by Ney, Mbappé curled home a magnificent finish from outside the box that gave Maignan no chance (1-0, 70')! Kylian drew another fine save from Maignan (83'), before setting up Ney to drive home number two (2-0, 84')! A last minute penalty denied Paris Saint-Germain a fifth consecutive clean sheet as Pepe netted a consolation goal (2-1, 90+3'). But it did little to take the shine off Paris' incredible record of 12 straight wins to start the season - a record in Europe's Big 5 leagues. And second-placed Lille are now 11 points adrift...

A man in the match: Kylian Mbappé
Who else? Thanks to his speed of execution and wonderful technique to open the scoring in the 70th minute, Kylian Mbappé became, at 19 years and 10 months of age, the youngest player to score 40 goals in L1 for 45 years! With 11 goals this season, the World Cup winner Kylian is the top scorer in Europe's Big 5 leagues, and loks like he's just getting stronger and stronger...

The word: Complicity
They arrived at the Parc wearing masks around 19:00, but they can find each other with their eyes closed! A goal and an assist each... the two are in unstoppable form...

Coming up:
The big matches are coming thick and fast! This Tuesday (21:00 CET), the French champions head to San Paolo for the return leg against Napoli, after a high-intensity first leg (2-2). There are three matches left in Group C  of the UEFA Champions and the capital club sit third in the group, one point behind the Italians…