At Auguste-Delaune Stadium on November 11, Reims controlled the ball 38%, finished 19 times with six shots on target – compared to 14 and 6 for PSG. The home team at times dominated and pressed the field, including VAR rejecting Junya Ito’s goal in the 7th minute for offside, but was left empty-handed on the day Mbappe flourished.
The French striker played the full 90 minutes, touched the ball 58 times, passed 87% accurately with one key pass, successfully dribbled the ball three times, finished nine times with five hits on target and scored three goals.
Minute 3, from Ousmane Dembele’s cross on the right wing, Mbappe touched the ball with his right foot at an angle, out of reach of goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf. In the 59th minute, Carlos Soler ran down the right wing and crossed for Mbappe to use his left foot to double the gap. In a similar attack on the right wing in the 82nd minute, Bradley Barcola – the 21-year-old striker who replaced Dembele – released a rebound to allow Mbappe to kick a diagonal touch to complete the hat-trick.
The 24-year-old striker scored a hat-trick for the first time this season and increased his scoring record to 15 goals in 15 matches in all competitions. In particular, he scored two goals in the Champions League and 13 goals in Ligue 1 – leading the scoring list in France’s number one tournament.
However, coach Luis Enrique was not satisfied with Mbappe’s performance. “I don’t want to talk about goals, but Mbappe can help the team more, in a different way,” the Spanish coach said after the match. “I will talk to Mbappe about it first. Mbappe is one of the best players in the world, but we need more than that. We want him to do more.”
Before that, Nice was held to a 0-0 draw by Montpellier. With these results, PSG rose to the top of Ligue 1 with 27 points, one point ahead of Nice and three points ahead of Monaco. After a two-week break to make room for the team, PSG will meet Monaco at Parc des Princes on November 24.