Sublime Mbappe scores twice, signs autograph

Kylian Mbappe scored two sublime goals and found time to sign an autograph for a young fan as Paris St Germain crushed Amiens 4-1 on Saturday to go into the Ligue 1 Christmas break seven points clear of Olympique de Marseille with a game in hand.

Champions PSG took the lead when an Amiens attack broke down and a precise pass from Neymar found Mbappe, the 21-year-old French international sprinting forward and coolly chipping the ball past keeper Regis Gurtner in the 10th minute.

Gurtner pulled off a string of fine saves to keep his side in the game but the Amiens defence was breached immediately after the break as Mauro Icardi forced the ball in towards Neymar who rattled it home.

Mbappe's second came from another perfect pass, this time from Angel Di Maria, and he fired a superb first-time shot to make it 3-0 to the home side in the 65th minute.

With central defenders Abdou Diallo and Thiago Silva both substituted due to injuries, Stiven Mendoza found enough space to pull a goal back before Icardi struck six minutes from time.

Mbappe had time to hug a young fan wearing a Santa Claus hat who made it onto the pitch and produced a book from under his jacket for the World Cup-winning forward to sign as he was escorted off by security.

It took an own goal from Sofiane Alakouch to break the deadlock for Marseille against second-bottom Nimes, with Dario Benedetto and Dimitri Payet adding a goal each in a 3-1 win that kept them in touch with PSG at the top of the standings.

Wissam Ben Yedder struck twice in the second half as Monaco came back from a goal down to thrash Lille 5-1, a defeat which sent the visitors down to fourth in the table after Rennes beat visiting Girondins Bordeaux 1-0.

There was more misery for bottom side Toulouse, who were hammered 3-0 by mid-table Nice, while Habib Maiga's late goal gave fellow strugglers Metz a 2-2 draw at Dijon that lifted them out of the bottom three to be replaced by Amiens.

Action in Ligue 1 resumes on Jan. 10 when Rennes host Marseille, with PSG away to Monaco two days later.