Mbappe comes off the bench to score as PSG punishes Nantes
Kylian Mbappe came off the bench to win and score a penalty as Paris Saint-Germain laboured past Nantes with a 2-0 win in Ligue 1.
Mbappe had been left out of the starting line-up for the match having told the league leader of his intention to leave club at the end of the season when his contract expires.
The game was scoreless in the second half when Mbappe was ready to make his entrance, Nantes having been denied a goal earlier as a result of an offside call.
But Lucas Hernandez fired in a deflected opener from distance seconds beforew Mbappe came on to ease the pressure on PSG, which had struggled to make meaningful chances up to that point.
Mbappe made an almost immediate impact by winning a penalty before firing it home to make it 2-0, and despite creating several chances to level or even win the game, Nantes couldn't find its finishing touch and Gianluigi Donnarumma also made some excellent saves for the visitors.
Mbappe, who started and scored in PSG’s 2-0 win against Real Sociedad in the midweek UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie, was in dispute with his club over his contract last summer.
The France forward refused to sign a one-year extension clause and was subsequently exiled from the first-team squad, and left out of the pre-season tour to Asia.
It remains to be seen if he'll be dropped to the bench more regularly now that he has signalled his intentions to move on from the club, with LaLiga gian Real Madrid the favourite to land the superstar when the next transfer window opens.
