Kylian Mbappe’s red-hot scoring run continued as he bagged a brace to steer Paris St Germain into the last 16 of the French Cup following a 4-1 win at US Orleans.
Mbappe seized upon some static defending to open the scoring just after the quarter-hour mark but PSG did not have it all their own way against a side who sit 12th out of 18 teams in the third tier.
It was not until after the hour PSG doubled their lead from the spot through Mbappe but despite taking his tally to 10 goals in his last six matches, the France captain continued to make his mark.
He turned provider for Goncalo Ramos and while Nicolas Saint-Ruf pulled one back, Mbappe then teed up 17-year-old substitute Senny Mayulu for his first goal for PSG two minutes from time.
PSG boss Luis Enrique admitted his hesitancy at the state of the pitch as he rang the changes to his line-up although he retained Mbappe, who bagged a treble in a 9-0 win at Revel in the last round.
It was unsurprisingly the 25-year-old who broke the deadlock in the 16th minute, reacting quickly to drive beyond Owen-Cesaire Matimbou from Randal Kolo Muani’s centre after some flat-footed defending.
If PSG thought the floodgates would open, they were left disappointed as Orleans’ backline repelled everything that was thrown at them for the rest of the half.
While Orleans became more of an attacking force after half-time, Steve Solvet’s handball in the area allowed Mbappe to double PSG’s lead from the penalty spot after 63 minutes.
Mbappe’s teasing cross to the back post was met by the diving head of Ramos to take PSG out of sight.
To their credit, Saint-Ruf pulled one back from a corner in the 86th minute to give Orleans something to show for their evening’s work.
But having been introduced minutes earlier, Mayulu restored PSG’s three-goal lead after being put through by Mbappe.
Southampton 0-3 Manchester United: Red Devils halt losing run with emphatic win
Manchester United halted their two-game losing run with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Southampton at St Mary's, with Matthijs de Ligt, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho on target.
United emerged from the first international break of 2024-25 14th in the Premier League table following defeats to Brighton and Liverpool, but they got back to winning ways after surviving an early scare on the south coast.
Making his first Premier League start, Tyler Dibling won a penalty for Southampton in the first half, but Andre Onana kept out Cameron Archer's tame kick and the momentum shifted from there.
De Ligt headed in his first United goal just two minutes later, then an excellent Rashford strike, curled into the bottom-right corner from the edge of the box, gave them breathing room.
Garnacho came off the bench to add to Southampton's woes in the second half, with Jack Stephens' wild lunge on the Argentine resulting in him being shown a straight red card with 11 minutes to play.
Garnacho then got himself on the scoresheet six minutes into stoppage time, lashing into the roof of the net after Diogo Dalot found him with a cutback from the byline.
Data Debrief: Rashford back in form
Rashford's dip in form in 2023-24 was a major contributing factor in United finishing a lowly eighth in the Premier League, the forward netting just seven league goals after plundering 17 the previous campaign.
However, he showed supreme confidence for his 41st-minute strike, which gave United a two-goal cushion at a crucial moment.
That effort ended a run of 12 games for United without a goal for Rashford, who had only previously endured two longer droughts for the club – 17-match runs that ended in January 2017 and August 2022.
Three of Rashford's last four Premier League goals have come from outside the penalty area, and since the start of 2022-23, only Eberechi Eze (eight), Phil Foden (seven) and Kevin De Bruyne (six) have scored more such goals in the competition than his five.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Ahli: Toney denied winning start by late own goal
A Bassam Al-Hurayji own goal in the 100th minute of the match handed Al-Nassr a 1-1 draw against Al-Ahli and denied Ivan Toney a winning start to life in Saudi Arabia.
Franck Kessie looked to have won all three points for Al-Ahli with a wonderful effort from the outside of the box after 57 minutes, but Al-Nassr's pressure was rewarded late on when Al-Hurayji diverted Sultan Alghannam's cross into his own net.
The home side started the match well, with Sadio Mane seeing an early effort cleared off the line and Marcelo Brozovic testing Edouard Mendy from distance, but they were unable to find a way through in the first half.
Kessie had gone close just after the break, dragging his shot wide of the far post, but he was not to be denied a second time. He met a pullback on the edge of the box, opening his foot to send a wonderful effort into the top-left corner.
But Cristiano Ronaldo's side kept probing, with Talisca deflecting a shot wide of the far post before they eventually got on the scoresheet thanks to Al-Hurayji's attempted block.
Data Debrief: Al-Nassr continue scoring streak - just
After scoring in the closing stages, with a bit of luck, Al-Nassr have now scored in their last 22 Saudi Pro League matches, a feat which has not been achieved since March-December 2017, with the final match in that sequence also being against Al-Ahli.
Furthermore, they are now unbeaten in their last six matches against Al-Ahli, which equals the longest unbeaten streak in the fixture - their opponents once went six games unbeaten between 2011 and 2013, winning three and drawing three.
Nagelsmann pleased with Germany development after Euro 2024 disappointment
Julian Nagelsmann believes Germany have taken the next step in their development after sharing the spoils in an entertaining clash with the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Tijjani Reijnders handed the hosts the lead with just a minute and 39 seconds on the clock, only for Deniz Undav and Joshua Kimmich to respond before the break.
The Netherlands drew level five minutes into the second half through Denzel Dumfries, leaving the pair joint-top of Group A3 after the opening round of fixtures.
But with German ambitions of being strong contenders at the next World Cup after their Euro 2024 disappointment, Nagelsmann is looking to see improvements in every match despite the tournament being just under two years away.
“There is an awareness that every game is important,” Naglesmann said.
“We have the Nations League now, the qualifiers next year and then hopefully off to the World Cup. We have 18 games left until then - if all goes well.
“The team believes in itself and that is the key. That is what we all want to see. Today we saw a team that wanted to win."
But in an enthralling encounter, Nagelsmann acknowledged that improvements need to be made at both ends of the pitch.
Germany managed just five shots on target from the 21 they attempted, registering an expected goals total (xG) of 2.94 during the contest.
While only restricting the Netherlands to 11 shots, their opponents created four big chances to Germany's three, with the Oranje also winning 53.1% of their duels compared to 46.9% for Nagelsmann's side.
“Both defences were too vulnerable but offensively, we were stronger, tried to create more and took a bit more risk," Nagelsmann said.
“In the early stages of the second half, we tried a little too hard and were maybe a bit too aggressive in the tackles.”
The Germany head coach was particularly pleased with his side's response to falling behind early on Reijnders' finish.
“The way we came back was very good. It took us five or six minutes, but then we were well in the game," Nagelsmann concluded.
Germany continue their Nations League campaign with two away fixtures next month, starting with Bosnia and Herzegovina, followed by a reunion with the Dutch on October 14.
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