AFP, Paris :
Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe both scored as Paris Saint-Germain stretched their mammoth lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 13 points with a 5-1 thrashing of defending champions Lille on Sunday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men were given a helping hand by a nightmarish display from Lille goalkeeper Ivo Grbic at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Portuguese midfielder Danilo Pereira netted twice, while Presnel Kimpembe also got on the scoresheet.
All eyes in the capital remain on Paris’ Champions League last-16 first leg against Real Madrid on February 15.
Mbappe, who has long been linked with Real, said that match has been the reason he is yet to make a decision about his future, despite having been free to sign a pre-contract agreement with another club since the start of last month.
“Playing against Real Madrid changes a lot of things,” the World Cup winner told Amazon Prime.
“Even if I’m free to do what I want, I’m not going to talk to the opponents. I’m focused on winning against Real Madrid and we’ll see what happens afterwards.”
This game, though, was the perfect response for PSG after their French Cup exit on penalties at the hands of Nice in midweek.
Lille are languishing down in 11th place after a seventh defeat of their title defence. The hosts needed to get something from the game to move into the top half of the table, but they made a calamitous start.
Grbic somehow failed to gather in Nuno Mendes’ low cross despite being under no pressure, and Danilo duly stabbed into an empty net to give PSG a 10th-minute lead.
Hatem Ben Arfa, making his first start since last April after his surprise move to Lille, set up Sven Botman to equalise before the half-hour mark.
But PSG were back in front in the 32nd minute as Grbic totally missed Messi’s corner and Kimpembe bundled home from close range. Messi grabbed his first goal of 2022 in slightly fortuitous circumstances, as a clearance ricocheted of his shins and played him in on goal.
