Mbappe scores birthday brace as PSG end year on top of Ligue 1

PARIS – Kylian Mbappe marked his 25th birthday with a brace as Paris Saint-Germain beat Metz 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time) to reach the halfway stage of the season five points clear at the top of the table.

PSG, who had been held 1-1 at Lille at the weekend, labored in the first half before Vitinha opened the scoring early in the second half by turning in a cross from Lee Kang-in.

Mbappe then took center stage by making it 2-0 with a superb strike in off the underside of the crossbar from the edge of the area.

Matthieu Udol pulled one back for the struggling visitors but Mbappe pounced on a short back pass to round the goalkeeper and make it 3-1 toward the end for his 18th league goal of the campaign.

His birthday was made even more memorable when his 16-year-old brother Ethan came on for his senior debut in stoppage time.

PSG end the year with a comfortable five-point cushion over nearest challengers Nice, who defeated Lens 2-0 on Wednesday thanks to two late goals from Nigerian striker Terem Moffi.

Monaco are seven points behind the leaders in third place after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Toulouse, with Wissam Ben Yedder scoring both of their goals.

The principality side held on to take all three points despite having Aleksandr Golovin sent off early in the second half.

Malian international Kamory Doumbia produced the individual performance of the evening by scoring four goals, all in the first half, as Brest beat Brittany rivals Lorient 4-0.

That result lifted Brest up into fourth, a Champions League qualifying berth, above a Lille side who were beaten 2-1 away at Patrick Vieira's Strasbourg.

Marseille are sixth after coming from behind to draw 1-1 at Montpellier, with Jordan Veretout scoring their goal in a game that was held up for five minutes in the second half after fireworks were set off at one end of the stadium.

Montpellier had a point deducted following an incident in their home match against Clermont earlier this season, when the away side's goalkeeper was hit by a firecracker thrown from the same stand.

"These guys are idiots, it's incredible," complained Montpellier coach Michel Der Zakarian on Wednesday.

"I don't