PARIS — Kylian Mbappe celebrated his 19th birthday Wednesday with a goal and an assist as Paris Saint-Germain cruised to a 3-1 victory over Caen in Ligue 1.
The French teenager has enjoyed a stratospheric rise in 2017 and rounded out a memorable year in style by setting up Edinson Cavani to fire PSG ahead on 21 minutes, before adding a goal of his own on the hour.
Spanish left-back Yuri Berchiche netted his first goal for the club since arriving from Real Sociedad as PSG strolled to a 10th straight home league win despite conceding a late Ivan Santini penalty.
Unai Emery’s team heads into the winter break nine points clear of defending champion Monaco and Lyon, with both of those sides claiming 2-1 wins over Rennes and Toulouse respectively.
Marseille responded to losing their 12-match unbeaten run at the weekend by coming from a goal behind to defeat Troyes 3-1 at the Velodrome to stay within three points of the Champions League spots.
PSG captain Thiago Silva returned from injury at the Parc des Princes to solidify a defense without the suspended Dani Alves and Presnel Kimpembe, while Neymar shrugged off a bout of illness that forced him to miss training Tuesday.
Mbappe, sporting dyed white hair for his birthday, was instrumental in PSG’s show Wednesday.
Radamel Falcao struck for the 15th time this campaign as Monaco won at home to Rennes thanks to an 81st-minute goal from Keita Balde after Wahbi Khazri had leveled for the visitor.
Nabil Fekir converted a first-half penalty and former Manchester United full-back Rafael scored in stoppage time as Lyon beat Toulouse despite a last-gasp spot-kick from Max-Alain Gradel.
Bryan Pele put Troyes ahead at Marseille, but Rudi Garcia’s men roared back with goals from Dimitri Payet, Luiz Gustavo and Valere Germain, while Emiliano Sala grabbed a 92nd-minute winner for Nantes in a 1-0 victory at Amiens.
Nice was held to a 1-1 draw at Lille in the absence of suspended Italian striker Mario Balotelli, the result enough to move the struggling hosts out of the bottom two.
Juve in quarters
Juventus playmaker Paulo Dybala scored his first goal for a month to send the titleholder on its way to a 2-0 win over Genoa in the Coppa Italia Wednesday and set up a quarterfinal against neighbor Torino.
Dybala, dropped for Juve’s last two league games after a loss of form, broke the deadlock three minutes before halftime, outfoxing his markers with a clever turn before firing into the bottom corner.
His fellow Argentine Gonzalo Higuain added the second in the 76th minute from a chance set up by Dybala, whose last goal was in the 3-2 defeat at Sampdoria on Nov. 19.
Torino pulled off a shock 2-1 win away to AS Roma with goals from Lorenzo De Silvestri and Simone Edera who put them 2-0 ahead.
Roma forward Edin Dzeko had a penalty saved by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic before Patrik Schick pulled one back for the hosts with five minutes left.
The quarterfinals will also feature a derby between AC Milan and Inter Milan, while Lazio hosts Fiorentina and Napoli entertains Atalanta. — Agencies
