Paris warm the Parc with win
Nearly two weeks after their 2-0 win over Lille, Paris Saint-Germain were back at the Parc des Princes in freezing conditions (1° celsius at kick-off!), and quickly took the initiative. Kylian Mbappé had the first chance of the match (5') and Angel Di Maria just failed to get on the end of Thomas Meunier's cross (7'). But Nantes defended deep and compact and made life difficult for Les Rouge et Bleu. Layvin Kurzawa was back in the starting line-up and he picked out Mbappé in front of goal, only for Girotto to make a last-ditch challenge (24')!
Mbappé then latched onto another Meunier cross (28'), while at the other end, Keylor Navas got down to his left to deny Blas (30'). Just before the break, Neymar thought he'd given Paris the lead, only for the VAR to rule the goal out for a foul in the build up (40'). The Paris No.10 was then denied by Lafont just before hal-time (45').
Paris stepped on the accelerator after the restart and Mbappé saw his powerful shot saved again by Lafont (50'). Two minutes later Paris found a way through with a stunning backheel goal from Mbappé, sumptuously turning home Di Maria's seventh assist of the season (1-0, 52'). Nantes looked to come back into the game but Navas saved Louza's long-range strike (59').
Thomas Tuchel's side finally made the game safe when NJR netted from the penalty spot after a foul by Lafont on substitute Icardi (2-0, 85'). In stoppage time, Navas made a breath-taking save to keep out Pallois' header and Paris almost went straight up the other end to score through Edinson Cavani (90+3'). The win sees Paris restore their five-point lead at the top of the standings, with a game in hand.
A man in the match: Kylian Mbappé
After celebrating his 100th match in all competitions for Paris Saint-Germain in last week's UCL clash away to Real Madrid, the France international Kylian Mbappé netted his 71st goal in Rouge et Bleu, equalling the total scored by Argentine legend Carlos Bianchi as he enters the club's all-time Top 10 scorers' chart.