Sibling teammates are a rarity in sports, let alone in football. In the past few years, Athletic Bilbao’s Inaki and Nico Williams have been the best examples of this, but now we have a new one in Ligue 1.
Ethan Mbappe just joined his older brother Kylian on the field on Wednesday, and none could be happier than their parents, Wilfried and Fayza.
Meanwhile, Brest have become one of the hottest teams in the league, as the Western Brittany-based club just recorded their third consecutive victory to improve to fourth place in the table.
And like Brest, Lyon have also won their third consecutive match, which means that the Ligue 1 2023 odds of them staying in the French top-flight have vastly improved compared to the weeks prior.
Learn more about the latest Ligue 1 2023 updates in today’s SBOTOP round-up.
Ethan makes his PSG debut on Kylian’s birthday
Kylian Mbappe just celebrated his 25th birthday in style, following PSG’s 3-1 victory over Metz.
Vitinha put the defending champions ahead from Lee Kang-In’s cross during the 49th minute. And then Kylian Mbappe effectively sealed the three points for the Parisiens by completing a brace late in the second half.
The 2018 World Cup champion scored his first goal in the 60th minute when he rifled a shot to the top corner from 20 yards before Matthieu Udol gave Metz hope with his 72nd-minute goal.
Kylian Mbappe got his second of the match and 18th league goal of the campaign by running on to a loose ball before rounding Metz’s Alexandre Oukidja with seven minutes left in the match.
But the highlight of the night for PSG was when head coach Luis Enrique handed a debut to Ethan Mbappe to close out the game. In his short time on the field, Ethan Mbappe attempted and completed all of his nine passes, which is an encouraging development.
Prior to Ethan’s senior debut, the 16-year-old midfielder joined PSG’s youth academy from the Bondy system in 2017, and he has been a key figure for the U-19 squad after playing in all six of their UEFA Youth League group stage matches this season.
Ethan Mbappe will hope that this is the first of many appearances he makes for the Parisiens and alongside Kylian over the course of the rest of the campaign.
Brest continue to punch above their weight
Brest are now one of the elite clubs in France, which was a foreign concept at the start of the season, considering that they were staving off relegation not too long ago.
After helping the club secure its top-flight survival towards the end of the 2022-23 campaign, Eric Roy has managed to turn Brest’s fortunes around by implementing a proactive style of football that has yielded 25 goals and only 15 goals conceded for a healthy goal difference of +10.
In their three straight wins against Metz, Nantes, and Lorient, Les Pirates have put in seven goals and conceded none on the other side of the pitch.
Kamory Doumbia was the star man against Lorient earlier today, as he managed to score four goals in the first half for the 4-0 result, making him the second-only player (alongside Edinson Cavani in 2016) in the past 60 years to score that many in the first half of a Ligue 1 match.
The 20-year-old forward notched his first three goals in just a span of eight minutes (from the 22nd to the 29th minute) before adding one more for good measure before the halftime break.
With five goals under his belt, Doumbia is now level with Romain Del Castillo at the top of Les Pirates’ scoring chart.
31 points in the first 17 matchdays is Brest’s best record ever at this stage of the Ligue 1 season, which has them dreaming of European football.
Are Lyon finally out of the woods?
Pierre Sage, who replaced Fabio Grosso earlier this month, had made his case to stay with Lyon because he has dragged them out of the dreaded drop zone with shutout wins over Toulouse (3-0), Monaco (1-0), and Nantes (1-0).
During their winning streak, Alexandre Lacazette has scored four goals, including a hat-trick against Toulouse. Meanwhile, Jeffinho scored his first-ever goal for OL against Monaco.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t’ give Rayan Cherki a shoutout, as the 20-year-old’s form has improved. No wonder plenty of suitors have expressed interest in signing him this January.
Lyon can tack on more points since they won’t face a top five opponent until February. This is their chance to save their club from the embarrassment of possibly being relegated at the end of the campaign.
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