Sports Desk, Mar 6 (EFE).- Kylian Mbappe struck twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat Real Sociedad 1-2 in the return leg of the round of 16 match to move to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since 2021.
The Parisians, who won the first leg 2-0, brought their class to San Sebastian and took just 15 minutes to take the lead through Mbappe, who was in sublime form, appearing unstoppable at times.
The 25-year-old forward whipped his measured shot into goal from a tight angle after receiving a through ball from Ousmane Dembele for his fifth goal of the campaign.
Alejandro Remiro denied Mbappe with his toe just before the half-hour to keep some hopes up for the hosts.
Takefusa Kubo came close to scoring for Sociedad on the stroke of the interval before he was thwarted by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The missed opportunity gave Sociedad at least a belief that there could be a way back, only for Mbappe to kill their hopes.
In 56 minutes, Mbappe cut inside with his sheer pace upon receiving a ball from Kang-in Lee, feigned to bend it on the right but instead struck low into his near bottom corner to score a vintage goal to kill the contest.
“We’re really happy. That was the objective, we wanted to qualify, but we also wanted to win,” said Mbappe, who is now the joint top scorer of the campaign with six goals, the same as Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane.
“We had a game plan that was clear, and we managed to score early. We didn’t come under too much pressure, just a little at the end.”
Mikel Merino took the captain’s armband after Mikel Oyarzabal was withdrawn and saved San Sebastian’s honor with a late consolation. EFE
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