European roundup: Cavani and Mbappé hit hat-tricks in PSG’s 9-0 rout

The runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain avenged their League Cup loss to Guingamp by demolishing the Brittany side 9-0.

PSG prevailed following hat-tricks from Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappé, a Neymar double and a Thomas Meunier goal. The only down side on an otherwise rampant night was the loss of the influential Marco Verratti to an ankle injury after just 13 minutes.

Nine days after being knocked out of the League Cup quarter-finals by Guingamp at the Parc des Princes, PSG were keen to exact revenge. Neymar opened the scoring in the 12th minute after collecting a superb through-ball by Dani Alves and beating Marc-Aurèle Caillard.

Mbappé made it 2-0 eight minutes before the break following a one-two with Neymar. The France striker then doubled his tally on the stroke of half-time after Cavani dispossessed Félix Eboa Eboa.

The Uruguay striker made it 4-0 in the 59th minute when he tapped in Juan Bernat’s pass and added another eight minutes later following Ángel Di María’s cross. Two minutes after that, Neymar, set up by Mbappé, found the net again.

Guingamp’s ordeal was far from over, though. Cavani beat Caillard when he tapped in Layvin Kurzawa’s cross in the 76th, five minutes before Mbappé also secured a hat-trick after collecting Cavani’s through-ball. Defender Meunier rounded off the humiliation with a shot from inside the box.

Mbappé, Neymar and Cavani have now scored a total of 44 goals in Ligue 1, with Mbappé leading the scoring charts with 17 goals.

Real Madrid breathed new life into their stuttering season as they secured a 2-0 La Liga victory at home to Sevilla.

Having wasted multiple chances, they were on course to drop further points, and leave their manager, Santiago Solari, under increasing pressure until Casemiro brilliantly curled in from long range in the 78th minute and then Luka Modric added a late second.

While they are still to truly join the title race led by Barcelona, the three points maintained the pressure on cross-city rivals Atlético Madrid and also put them ahead of Sevilla, who fell to fourth.

With Sevilla content to attack on the counter from the outset, the hosts dominated possession but struggled to create chances.

The second half began in similar fashion, but Modric began to exert greater influence and, as he sent a dipping effort into the side netting on the hour mark, the opening goal felt imminent.

Dani Ceballos struck the crossbar from 30 yards before Casemiro gave Real Madrid the lead. Modric then sealed victory in stoppage time. Finding himself in space in the penalty area, the Croatian drew the goalkeeper before curling the ball past inside the near post.

Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund narrowly beat RB Leipzig 1-0 courtesy of Axel Witsel’s 19th-minute winner, to protect their six-point lead over champions Bayern Munich as the German top flight resumed following the winter break.

Though missing their in-form captain Marco Reus, who suffered a ligament injury in training on Friday, Dortmund managed to earn their eighth win in their last nine league matches, helped by Roman Bürki’s string of fine saves.

It was also Leipzig’s first home loss of the season and Dortmund’s first league win there since their opponents were promoted to the Bundesliga a few seasons ago.

“We are extremely satisfied. It was as expected a very hard game. Leipzig came very close two or three times but we won in the end,” said Dortmund coach Lucien Favre. “We played really well as a team. The first game of the year is always difficult so it was important to win here today. Roman Bürki was outstanding.”

Roma survived a second-half fightback to end Torino’s unbeaten Serie A away record with a 3-2 win thanks to Stephan El Shaarawy’s late goal at the Stadio Olimpico. A Nicolò Zaniolo strike and an Aleksander Kolarov penalty gave the hosts a comfortable half-time lead but Torino drew level through strikes by Tomás Rincón and Cristian Ansaldi before El Shaarawy secured the points for Roma in the 73rd minute.

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source: theguardian.com