PSG boss Enrique ‘not happy’ with Mbappé despite hat trick،
Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique says he is ‘not very happy’ with Kylian Mbappe, despite the French striker scoring a hat-trick to propel his team to the top of the table Ligue 1 with a 3-0 victory at Reims on Saturday.
The visitors were quick to break the deadlock when Ousmane Dembélé accelerated down the right flank and delivered a superb cross to the far post. Mbappé released the ball from inside the box to fire a right-footed shot past Reims goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf into the opposite corner after just two minutes.
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It was Mbappé’s 11th goal in the French championship this season, and Dembélé’s fourth assist. Mbappé would later take his tally to 13, having played just 11 matches.
But PSG coach Enrique was not satisfied.
“I’m not very happy with Kylian today,” he told Amazon Prime. “Why? Because the managers are so strange. Regarding the goals, I have nothing to say, I have nothing to complain about. But I think he can help the team a lot in a different way because ‘it’s so important.
“I’ll tell him first, and after that I’ll never tell you because it’s not public. We think Kylian is one of the best players in the world, there’s no doubt about that, but we We need more and we want him to do more things, that’s my opinion.”
PSG, who lost to AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, were second best during long spells in the Champagne city but were opportunistic and clinical in converting their chances.
Against the run of play, Mbappé doubled his team’s lead in the 59th minute following a move initiated by Dembélé, who recovered the Spaniard Carlos Soler to offer an easy goal to Mbappé.
Reims was punished one last time at the break when Mbappé was spotted in the area by Bradley Barcola and took his time to finish the action with his right foot in the 82nd minute.
Mbappé almost scored a fourth goal with a powerful strike from the edge of the area which crashed onto the bar.
Asked about his own performance, Mbappé told Amazon Prime: “In all modesty, I don’t need to play well to score goals, but I want to do both, score goals and play well. That’s my goal, always help the team as best I can.”
The fifth consecutive league victory puts PSG one point ahead of Nice, with Reims in fourth place, seven points off the pace.
Nice, former leader, the only team still undefeated this season, was held to a 0-0 draw on Friday in Montpellier, in mid-table.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
