Dembele shines as PSG climb top of Ligue 1

Dembele shines as PSG climb top of Ligue 1

AFP
November 3, 2023 at 10:14 PM
Paris Saint-Germain winger Ousmane Dembele was at the heart of a dominant performance
Paris Saint-Germain winger Ousmane Dembele was at the heart of a dominant performance. Photo: FRANCK FIFE / AFP
Source: AFP

Paris Saint-Germain beat Montpellier 3-0 to climb provisionally top of France's Ligue 1 on Friday, with Ousmane Dembele providing much of the ammunition.

Luis Enrique's new-look PSG seems to be clicking into gear with Lee Kang-in, Warren Zaire-Emery and Vitinha bagging the goals in a dominant win.

Lee's left-foot shot into the top corner on 10 minutes opened the tally and sparked joy after Kylian Mbappe set him up with a clever dummy.

Mbappe was largely kept quiet by some robust defending ahead of PSG's visit to AC Milan in the Champions League in midweek.

Just before the hour mark, Zaire-Emery made it 2-0 after a back-heel from Dembele left the 17-year-old in space on the edge of the six-yard box for a nerveless finish.

Substitute Vitinha scored with almost his first touch, slamming home from the edge of the area as goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte dived the right way marginally too late.

Dembele himself came close on 26 minutes and Mbappe, who scored his 250th and 251st goals for the club last week, was wasteful from an ensuing corner.

Mbappe nodded one in late on but walked away laughing sheepishly because he was so far offside.

Having started their European campaign with a 2-0 home win against Borussia Dortmund, PSG lost at Newcastle but top Group F with six points ahead of their trip to Milan in the Champions League after beating the Italians last week.

On Saturday all eyes will be on Marseille's match against Lille, a week after the Lyon bus was pelted with heavy objects by OM fans, one of which left Lyon coach Fabio Grosso with a serious facial injury that caused the game to be called off.

Nice can climb back on top of the league when they host Rennes Sunday with third-placed Monaco hosting Brest the same evening.

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