Ligue 1: Mbappe hits half century record as Amiens and Guingamp reinvigorated
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Kylian Mbappe became on Saturday the youngest ever player to score 50 Ligue 1 goals after striking twice in Paris Saint-Germain's comfortable 3-0 win over Nimes that tightened the champions' grip on the French title. 
Mbappe scored in the 69th and 89th minutes as runaway league leaders PSG extended their lead on second-placed Lille to 17 points after the northern side's 1-1 draw at Strasbourg on Friday, and snatched the record from Yannick Stopyra, who according to football statistics database Opta was 21 years, 11 months and nine days old when he hit his 50th top-flight goal in 1982. 
"I work every day to try to help my team as much as possible," Mbappe said to Canal+ after the win. "Football is still fun for me, and scoring goals and breaking records is what drives me so I'm very happy." 
Christopher Nkunku's 40th-minute strike, which came after a beautiful chipped pass from Marco Verratti, got the ball rolling for Thomas Tuchel's side against mid-table Nimes, who had goalkeeper Paul Bernadoni and poor PSG finishing – in particular from Mbappe – to thank for not taking an even heavier beating at the Parc de Princes.
Kylian Mbappe warms up before the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nimes at the Parc de Princes in Paris, France, 23 February 2019. /VCG Photo

Kylian Mbappe warms up before the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Nimes at the Parc de Princes in Paris, France, 23 February 2019. /VCG Photo

Personal mission

Still missing injured strike partners Edinson Cavani and Neymar, Mbappe should have put the hosts in the lead eight minutes before Nkunku's opener when he somehow hit Bernardoni's outstretched leg instead of the back of the net when put clean through by a sumptuous Verratti pass. 
World Cup winner Mbappe thought he had sneaked in the second with his hand just before the break, only to be caught punching instead of heading in Thiago Silva's flick-on via the video assistant referee system and booked for his troubles. 
The 20-year-old appeared on a personal mission to break the record in the second half but, first cutting in from the left and firing just wide eight minutes after the restart before his volley from Marquinhos' chipped past was brilliantly palmed away by Bernadoni. 
He somehow poked wide on the hour mark after charging onto a low cross from the left before finally making his half-century – and doubling PSG's lead – in almost exactly the same fashion nine minutes later, meeting the surging Juan Bernat's cut back with a neat first-time finish. 
And the Frenchman made the result even more emphatic when he finished off a lightning break started by Nkunku to take his league tally for the season to 22 and his career total to 51.

Lasts reinvigorated

The laggard Amiens and Guingamp each settled a 1-0 win on Saturday. 
Amiens' Serhou Guirassy (L) competes with Nice's Christophe Herelle during a Ligue 1 match between Amiens and Nice at the Licorne stadium in Amiens, France, February 23, 2019. /VCG Photo

Amiens' Serhou Guirassy (L) competes with Nice's Christophe Herelle during a Ligue 1 match between Amiens and Nice at the Licorne stadium in Amiens, France, February 23, 2019. /VCG Photo

Facing the top-10 Nice, Amiens striker Moussa Konate has perfectly passed the ball to Serhou Guirassy, who's barely on the off-side line, to score the only goal of this crucial match for the maintenance in the top division. 
Since Senegalese Konate became a regular after four months of absence due to injury, the Picards (people of Amiens) have won two of their last three games to escape a bit from the red zone: they are with 24 now, four points more than the jumper Dijon, who lost 1-0 to Saint-Etienne on Friday. 
The red lantern Guingamp edged Angers 1-0 with Lucas Deaux's 91st-minute goal, but the three points didn't cause any rank change on the table.
There are still five matches on Sunday for Ligue 1 Round 26: Montpellier vs. Reims, Nantes vs. Bordeaux, Toulouse vs. Caen, Rennes vs. Marseille, and Monaco vs. Lyon.
Source(s): AFP