Mbappé: Neymar, Cavani injuries covered by France star's genius
The PSG forward has scored nine goals in his last seven appearances and is the only player within reach of Leo Messi in the Golden Shoe stakes.
PSG’s march to the Ligue 1 title continues apace and the Parisians could have the title wrapped up next weekend if Thomas Tuchel’s side beat Strasbourg at home and Lille, their nearest challengers, fail to claim three points away at Stade Reims.
In any case, it would take a collapse of epic proportions now for PSG not to lift the Ligue 1 title for a second consecutive season and when the if becomes when, it will be largely due to the influence of Kylian Mbappé, who has led the side in the absence of Neymar and Edinson Cavani in recent weeks and scored the only goal of the game in the Stadium de Toulouse to maintain PSG’s 20-point advantage over Lille.
Mbappé has now scored nine times in his last seven Ligue 1 games, the same number of matches that the Uruguay forward, who is the side’s second highest scorer this season, has missed with hamstring and muscle issues. In three of those games, Mbappé hit the decisibe goal.
Mbappé PSG's leading light ahead of Neymar, Cavani
Neymar has not played since the 9-0 thrashing of Guingamp on January 19 and it has been down to Mbappé to keep the PSG juggernaut rolling with Ángel di María also missing the Toulouse game with a hamstring injury.
Mbappé was unable to prevent PSG’s defeat against Manchester United in the Champions Leage despite scoring in the opening leg at Old Trafford but in Ligue 1 he has scored 27 times in 24 games to guide his side to the domestic title. In all, Mbappé has failed to find the net just four times in league action this season and he is the only player in Europe with any chance of challenging Leo Messi for the Golden Shoe (previously, and more sensibly, the Golden Boot) with the Barcelona forward currently on 31 Liga goals.
Across all competitions this season, Mbappé has scored 32 times and provided 15 assists in 36 games, cementing his place as the hottest property in world football at the moment and casting the high-profile absences of Neymar and Cavani into the shadows. The Uruguayan is the club's all-time record scorer and the Brazilian the most expensive player in the world, but PSG fans only have eyes for Mbappé at the moment.