French youngster Kylian Mbappe was at his blistering best as he scored a hat-trick – including a stunning 70-yard solo goal – to send Paris Saint-Germain into the French Cup Final.
PSG ran out 5-1 winners in their semi-final at Lyon, thanks in no small part to 21-year-old Mbappe’s trio of strikes.
The pick of the bunch came in the 70th minute with PSG already 2-1 up.
Mbappe collected the ball deep inside his own half before dropping his shoulder to accelerate past Lyon midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, then selling defender Marcelo a dummy inside the box before slotting into the net.
It was a sensational strike which had social media hailing the latest act of sorcery from a player tipped as the heir to the throne as the world’s best player, so long occupied by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Such was the ease with which Mbappe blitzed the Lyon ranks, some Twitter users claimed it was "stupidly easy" for the World Cup winner against that level of opposition.
Lyon had gone ahead in the match through Martin Terrier’s 11th-minute goal, although Mbappe put PSG on level terms just three minutes later when he helped a Layvin Kurzawa header over the line.
Lyon found themselves a man down and a goal down just after the hour mark when Fernando Marcal was given a second yellow card for a handball inside the box, with Neymar converting the penalty.
Then came Mbappe’s blistering run to kill the match, before Pablo Sarabia scored a fourth and then Mbappe complete his hat-trick in injury time by turning home a rebound after his initial effort had been saved by Lyon keeper Anthony Lopes.
It was Mbappe’s 30th goal of the season in 32 games for PSG as he is on course to enjoy his best campaign yet for the Parisian giants.
Ligue 1 leaders PSG have won the French Cup in four of the past five years, losing in last season’s final to Rennes on penalties.