It was the return of the king "Kyky", long awaited by the Parc des Princes after his sensational contract extension...

But to launch his sixth season in Paris, after missing the Champions Trophy (suspension) and the opening of the Championship (injury), the world champion had a mixed evening, with a missed penalty and a few gestures of annoyance, but also a goal, at the conclusion of a corner (69th).

This achievement, not celebrated, came to appease a hitherto frustrating game for the Frenchman, warmly embraced by his teammates.

Because if Lionel Messi and Neymar, the men at the start of the season, continue to find themselves with their eyes closed, this is less the case for the 23-year-old international, a little too greedy in certain situations, a little less successful, and even clearly exceeded at times, before his exit in the 86th minute.

The Brazilian, he remains on very high bases, with a double (43rd sp, 51st) which brings his total of goals to five in three official matches, in addition to the three assists delivered since the end of July.

The first Parisian goal came from a shot from Mbappé off target and awkwardly deflected into his goal by Falaye Sacko, also at fault on the penalty converted by Neymar.

And the last, from Renato Sanches, already a scorer for his first match after his arrival from Lille (88th).

Paris still conceded its first goals of the season, by Wahbi Khazri (58th) and Enzo Tchato (90th +2).

But the project led by Christophe Galtier continues to take shape, even if the adaptation of Mbappé is still far from complete.

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Monegasque solidarity

A little earlier, the opposition had been more balanced, between two candidates for European places, Monaco and Rennes.

At home, ASM won a good draw given the circumstances, after 75 minutes spent in numerical inferiority and an elimination in the 3rd qualifying round for the Champions League to digest.

Three days after the disappointing setback in Eindhoven against PSV (3-2 after extra time), it was indeed necessary to remobilize quickly... And the Monegasques did it, with the exception of Youssouf Fofana, at fault in the quarter game , and excluded.

After its surprise opening defeat against Lorient (1-0), Rennes still lacked efficiency, despite the opener of Gaëtan Laborde (59th), quickly erased by Breel Embolo (72nd), a promising rookie.

"We stayed in the game with a lot of solidarity, with a lot of physical effort after 120 minutes in Eindhoven. Mentally, the players also bounced back," said coach Philippe Clement.

"To do 75 minutes against Rennes at 10 is only possible when solidarity is exceptional".

With four points, the ASM is temporarily positioned on the podium, just behind Lille (4 pts), held in check in Nantes on Friday.

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Two clubs can join Paris at the top of the ranking on Sunday: Marseille, traveling to Brest (8:45 p.m.), and Lens, which goes to Ajaccio (3:00 p.m.).

The duel between Lorient and Lyon was postponed due to the impassable lawn in Brittany.

© 2022 AFP