Neymar and Kylian Mbappe run riot in PSG Champions League rout of Istanbul Basaksehir
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Updated 09/12/2020 at 20:31 GMT
Champions League, Parc des Princes: Paris Saint-Germain 5 (Neymar 21', 38', 50', Mbappe 42', 62') Istanbul Basaksehir 1 (Mehmet Topal 57')
Paris Saint-Germain's Brazilian forward Neymar (R) celebrates with Paris Saint-Germain's French forward Kylian Mbappe after scoring his second goal during the UEFA Champions League group H football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Istanbul Basa
Image credit: Getty Images
Neymar scored a wonderful hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Istanbul Basaksehir in Wednesday night's rescheduled Champions League, a result that sees Thomas Tuchel's men top Group G.
The match resumed goalless in the 14th minute, the time Tuesday night's encounter was abandoned with fourth official Sebastian Coltescu accused of using a racist term towards Pierre Webo, Basaksehir's assistant coach.
Neymar broke the deadlock in stupendous fashion seven minutes after the restart, nutmegging the defender and curling a beautiful shot into the top corner. The Brazilian doubled his side's advantage with a goal on the counter-attack from Kylian Mbappe's assist.
Mbappe grabbed PSG's third from the penalty spot to end a goal drought in the competition dating back to December 11, 2019, after VAR ruled out Mitchel Bakker's goal and awarded the hosts a spot-kick for goalkeeper Mert Gunok's foul on Neymar.
Neymar netted his hat-trick after the restart, playing a give-and-go with Angel Di Maria before lashing it past the helpless Gunok.
Basaksehir scored a consolation through Mehmet Topal before Mbappe sealed his second of the game with a simple tap in after being fed by the selfless Di Maria.
The result means PSG leapfrog RB Leipzig to top the group, while Basaksehir's European journey ends on a sorry note.
TALKING POINT - Players and officials join together in strong anti-racism message
Regardless of what happened on the pitch tonight, the talking point was always going to be the important subject of tackling and highlighting racism in the game. After Tuesday night's sorry episode, players from both sides and match officials sent out a strong message.
Webo, whose red card was frozen, both sets of players and the match officials wore 'No To Racism' t-shirts during the warm-up. The players then mixed with each other and everyone - officials included - took a knee as the Champions League anthem played.
It was a defiant message, and while Uefa's investigation into what unfolded on Tuesday night continues, everyone connected with Paris Saint Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir can be proud of their actions over the last 24 hours.
MAN OF THE MATCH - Neymar (PSG)
Unfortunately for the visitors, they caught the Brazilian on one of those occasions where he was simply unplayable. His first goal was a thing of true beauty and that set the tone for a mesmerising performance.
PLAYER RATINGS -
PSG: Navas 6, Marquinhos 6, Danilo 6, Kimpembe 6, Florenzi 7, Verratti 7, Paredes 7, Rafinha 7, Bakker 7, Mbappe 8, Neymar 9.. subs: Gueye N/A, Di Maria 8, Pembele N/A, , Diallo N/A, Kehrer 5.
Basaksehir: Gunok 6, Rafael 5, Ponck 5, Topal 5, Kaldirim 5, Kahveci 5, Tekdemir 5, Ozcan 5, Turuc 5, Crivelli 5, Gulbrandsen 5.. subs: Kaplan N/A, Bolingoli 5, Giuliano 5, Chadli N/A, Ba 5.
KEY MOMENTS
21' - GOAL! PSG 1-0 Basaksehir (Neymar): Oh that is beautiful! Neymar puts it through the legs of Ponck and then curls it past the goalkeeper with a gorgeous curling shot that hits the top right hand corner. Perfect. It's a goal that will be shown again and again.
38' - GOAL! PSG 2-0 Basaksehir (Neymar): PSG double their advantage on the counter! Rafinha leads the break, driving forward and spreading it wide to Mbappe. His pass to Neymar is perfect and the Brazilian squeezes it past Gunok!
39' Goal... or is it? PSG have their third of the night! Bakker slides it into an empty net after Neymar goes down after contact from the goalkeeper Gunok. But VAR is going to check it. Will it count? It's a strange decision from the referee, who opts to rule out the goal and award PSG a penalty for the goalkeeper's foul on Neymar! Gunok is booked.
42' - GOAL! PSG 3-0 Basaksehir (Mbappe, pen): There is no doubt about this one as Mbappe scores his long awaited Champions League goal from the spot!
50'- GOAL! PSG 4-0 Basaksehir (Neymar): Oh my, there's the hat-trick for Neymar! And in some style too! The brilliant Brazilian collects on the left side of the penalty area, rides a couple of challenges and plays a neat give-and-go with Di Maria on the edge of the penalty before before lashing it past Gunok.
57' - GOAL! PSG 4-1 Basaksehir (Topal): Topal gets on the scoresheet - but he doesn't know much about it! Kahveci's powerful volley hits Topal's thigh and ends up past Navas!
62' - GOAL! PSG 5-1 Basaksehir (Mbappe): PSG are proving so devastating on the counter-attack! Neymar threads it to Di Maria, who is through one-on-one with the goalkeeper. But rather selflessly, he squares it to Mbappe, who has the simple task of tapping it home into an empty net.
KEY STATS
- Neymar is the first player in the history of the European Cup/Champions League to score 20 goals for two different teams (Barcelona and PSG).
- Neymar’s treble is his third UEFA Champions League hat-trick, also doing so against Celtic in December 2013 and against Crvena Zvezda in October 2018; only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (eight each) have scored more hat-tricks in the competition.
- Kylian Mbappé has now scored 21 goals in the UEFA Champions League, becoming the youngest player in the competition's history to reach this goal tally.
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