A smoking hot Paris Saint-Germain blitzed their way into the Coupe de France Last 16 with a 7-0 trouncing of Pays de Cassel on Monday.
It was a perfect Coupe de France fairytale ending for the Parc de Princes outfit when they headed north to face amateur opponents at Lens’ Stade Felix Bollaert with coach Christophe Galtier clearly determined there would be no happy ending for the minnows as he named a strong starting XI with Neymar, Hugo Ekitike and captain Kylian Mbappe straddling the front line.
The Rouge-et-Bleu easily and immediately took possession of the ball despite their opponents setting out to defend resolutely but the Parisians were not to be denied as they pressed forward incessantly.
Mbappé donned the armband and sent an acrobatic effort into the net following Nuno Mendes’ lightning burst forward down the left. That immediately opened the floodgates with Mbappe subsequently teeing up Neymar before scoring the third himself with a lob. He secured his hat-trick before the break by latching onto a Vitinha pass.
Obviously not contented with their fine haul, the Parisians continued to press forward and Mbappé soon achieved his quadruple in the 55th minute. Carlos Soler then back-heeled home after Neymar’s superb pass (in the 63rd minute before Mbappé sealed the deal for his fifth and the team’s seventh in the 79th minute.
The Parisians now face rivals Marseille in the Last 16.