Soccer Football - Champions League - Group A - Club Brugge v Paris St Germain - Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium - October 22, 2019 Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring one of his goals REUTERS/Johanna Geron
BRUGES, Belgium (Reuters) - Kylian Mbappe came off the bench to grab a second half hat-trick and inspire Paris St Germain to a runaway 5-0 victory at Belgium's Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The win kept up their 100% record in Group A with the French team on nine points at the halfway mark and on the cusp of qualification for the next phase, a comfortable five points ahead of second placed Real Madrid.
Mauro Icardi put PSG into a seventh minute lead but it was only after World Cup winner Mbappe, working his way back after a hamstring injury, came on early in the second half that they clicked into gear.
Soccer Football - Champions League - Group A - Club Brugge v Paris St Germain - Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium - October 22, 2019 Club Brugge's Simon Deli in action with Paris St Germain's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
PSG's opener was simply done with a long ball over the top from skipper Thiago Silva to find Angel di Maria, who in turn slipped a square pass for his fellow Argentine to convert.
Mbappe came on shortly after halftime and within nine minutes had PSG further ahead.
His quick footwork set up Di Maria for a square pass that Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet got a hand to, serving only to pop it up in the air for a quick-thinking Mbappe to head back over him and into the net.
Soccer Football - Champions League - Group A - Club Brugge v Paris St Germain - Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium - October 22, 2019 Paris St Germain's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in action with Club Brugge's Clinton Mata REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
Mbappe then set up the third for Icardi two minutes later after a defensive slip.
Di Maria was again the provider as Mbappe made it 4-0 in the 79th minute and then completed his hat-trick four minutes later.
On both occasions it was the pace of the 20-year-old in carving his way past the Brugge defence and his deft finishing that underlined his prowess.
Soccer Football - Champions League - Group A - Club Brugge v Paris St Germain - Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium - October 22, 2019 Club Brugge's Emmanuel Dennis shoots at goal as Paris St Germain's Juan Bernat attempts to block REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
Club Brugge have two points from their three group games and go to Paris for their next Champions League match on Nov. 6.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Soccer Football - Champions League - Group A - Club Brugge v Paris St Germain - Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium - October 22, 2019 Paris St Germain's Mauro Icardi celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Francois LenoirSoccer Football - Champions League - Group A - Club Brugge v Paris St Germain - Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium - October 22, 2019 Club Brugge's Hans Vanaken in action with Paris St Germain's Marquinhos REUTERS/Francois LenoirSoccer Football - Champions League - Group A - Club Brugge v Paris St Germain - Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium - October 22, 2019 General view as Paris St Germain fans let off flares before the match REUTERS/Johanna GeronSoccer Football - Champions League - Group A - Club Brugge v Paris St Germain - Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges, Belgium - October 22, 2019 Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe looks on from the bench before the match REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
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