Twitter erupts as PSG thrash Auxerre 5-0 ahead of 2022 FIFA World Cup break

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) thrashed Auxerre 5-0 in their final game before the 2022 FIFA World Cup and Twitter erupted.

Christophe Galtier's men took the lead in just the 11th minute through Kylian Mbappe.

There was a VAR check over Neymar potentially handling the ball in the build-up, but the potential handball occurred in the play phase before the goal.

Gideon Mensah found M'Baye Niang, who went one-on-one with PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 17th minute.

The Italian shot-stopper made a decent save to deny the former AC Milan striker.

PSG could have added to their lead in the 37th minute when Mbappe raced forward and sent a through ball into the path of Lionel Messi.

The veteran Argentine stretched for the ball before gathering it under control, cutting inside but sending his shot flying high and wide.

The Parisians added to their lead in the 51st minute through Carlos Soler's strike.

Mendes broke into Auxerre's box brilliantly, lifting a delightful cross into the Spanish forward who headed past goalkeeper Benoit Costil.

Soler then turned provider in the 57th minute, after PSG raced forward on the counter.

The former Valencia attacker sent an astute ball into the path of Achraf Hakimi and the right-back made no mistake with a composed finish past Costil.

Galtier's men went close once again in the 66th minute when Messi sent a curling effort just rebounding off the post.

Both Messi and Neymar were withdrawn unscathed in the 74th minute with their eyes now firmly set on the FIFA World Cup.

Renato Sanches stepped off the bench in the 61st minute and was on the scoresheet in the 80th minute.

Hugo Ekitike took the ball around Costil before finding Sanches, whose shot deflected in off the post.

Ekitike was then the scorer in the 84th minute, capitalizing on sloppy defending to fire past Costil.

Here are some reactions from fans on Twitter on a day when Galtier's men secured a well-deserved 5-0 victory over Auxerre:

PSG top of Ligue 1 heading into the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament break

PSG's win over Auxerre took them on to 41 points and they hold a five-point lead over second-placed Lens.

Galtier's side are looking increasingly likely to successfully defend their Ligue 1 crown.

The likes of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe are excelling while defensively the side have only conceded nine goals in 15 league fixtures.

The Parisians will be at the top of the French league during the World Cup tournament break.

About the author

Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

Matthew always strives to go beyond a story and offer unique and lesser-known insights, while maintaining an unbiased tone in his articles. His reporting exploits at the company have helped him gain a humungous readership of 25 million, with one of his articles raking in a whopping 724,000 reads.

A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

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