Ligue 1: PSG of a great Ousmane Dembélé dominates AS Saint-Etienne

After winning the Champions Trophy against AS Monaco in Doha, Qatar last weekend, Paris Saint-Germain returned to Ligue 1 this Sunday evening, welcoming AS Saint to the Parc des Princes lawn. -Etienne, closing the 17th day of the championship. At home, the Ile-de-France residents were organized in a 4-3-3 with Gianluigi Donnarumma who officiated as the last defense. In front of him, we found Achraf Hakimi, Lucas Beraldo, Lucas Hernandez and Nuno Mendes. Fabian Ruiz, Lee Kang-In and Senny Mayulu found themselves in midfield. Alone up front, Gonçalo Ramos could count on Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola on the wings. For their part, the Greens were structured in a 4-3-3 with Gautier Larsonneur in the cages behind Dennis Appiah, Dylan Batubinsika, Mickaël Nadé and Léo Pétrot. The midfield was provided by Benjamin Bouchouari, Pierre Ekwah and Louis Mouton. In front, Lucas Stassin was accompanied in the corridors by Mathieu Cafaro and Zuriko Davitashvili. And the match started with an intense rhythm. Rare enough to be underlined, the Greens were not afraid to move forward from the kick-off at the Parc des Princes.

Launched on the right, Zuriko Davitashvili provoked and entered the area. He armed a shot towards the left of the goal which narrowly escaped the frame (1st). From the start, AS Saint-Étienne tried to press high to disrupt Paris Saint-Germain’s restarts. Nuno Mendes’ dangerous back pass to Lucas Hernandez was perfectly cleared by Lucas Stassin. Benjamin Bouchouari recovered then gave back in depth to Stassin. The latter entered the area and put the leather back at the penalty spot for Zuriko Davitashvili whose shot passed just to the right of the goal. He was hampered by the exit of Gianluigi Donnarumma (6th). PSG tried to react immediately. Indeed, located full axis in front of the Saint-Etienne surface, Senny Mayulu provoked and relied on Bradley Barcola who followed him on the left of the surface. Senny Mayulu armed a shot which was repelled by Gautier Larsonneur. The Parisian midfielder followed, but his second shot ended in the left net (8th). After this double opportunity, Paris wanted to maintain the pressure. On a high recovery, Achraf Hakimi, launched in the axis towards the surface, shifted to his left Gonçalo Ramos who struck low to the ground. Too crushed, his shot was captured by Larsonneur.

Ousmane Dembélé boiling hot!

Despite good intentions, the Greens were surprised. Paris Saint-Germain also had good possibilities in the first quarter of an hour. This start to the match was actually quite lively. On a shift from Kang-In Lee to the left, Ousmane Dembélé provoked and transplanted into the axis. In front of the area, the French winger fired a shot which landed on the right of the goal. A magnificent achievement to open the scoring (13th, 1-0). Then on a cross from Hakimi, the Parsiens claimed a penalty. Thanks to the use of video refereeing, Benoît Millot went to view the images. Léo Patrot seemed to have touched the ball with his hand before Mickaël Nadé cleared the danger. An impression confirmed by the VAR and Dembélé thus offered himself a double with a strong strike against the left, already putting his team to safety (23rd, 2-0). Well found on the left by Lee, Barcola then overtook Dennis Appiah and returned to the left of the area. He stared at Gautier Larsonneur who pushed his shot back above his goal (35th). On a high recovery from Fabián Ruiz who served Dembélé full axis in front of the Saint-Etienne surface. The Frenchman’s shot was blocked by Nadé and returned to Gonçalo Ramos who was flagged offside (36th). With a reversal of play to the right, Dembélé returned to the axis and shifted to the left of the Barcola area. The latter had the ball stolen by Bouchouari but the winger caught himself and recovered before hooking Dylan Batubinsika and adjusting Gautier Larsonneur on the right. But the VAR intervened again and canceled the goal for a foul by Barcola (39th). At half-time, Luis Enrique’s troops were in the lead.

Returning from the locker room, Paris Saint-Germain took control of the game and did not seem satisfied. Launched deep on the left, Bradley Barcola accelerated and entered the area. Gautier Larsonneur came out well to repel the Parisian winger’s attempt (53rd). Served full axis by Fabián Ruiz in front of the Saint-Etienne area, Ousmane Dembélé unleashed a shot. His attempt went over Gautier Larsonneur’s goal (58th). While the AS Saint-Étienne players clearly lacked edge, the Greens, who were having difficulty building in the opposing final third, were able to react. On a full-axis free kick in front of the area, Zuriko Davitashvili curled a superb shot which went around the poorly placed Parisian wall to the right and then landed on the left of the goal. Gianluigi Donnarumma was beaten (64th, 2-1). The reduction in the Georgian’s score allowed the Greens to believe in it again. But Paris did everything to avoid the trap. Indeed, Kang-In Lee recovered the ball in front of the Saint-Etienne area after Mathis Amougou took too many risks. He shifted to the right Hakimi who entered the area and struck. His shot unfortunately ended up in the right side of the net (74th). In the standings, PSG further establishes its domination at the top of the championship ahead of OM, while ASSE remains in danger in 16th position despite good intentions this evening. Next weekend, the Parisians will challenge RC Lens in Bollaert in the North, while the Greens will welcome FC Nantes to the Chaudron du Geoffroy-Guichard, during the 18th day of the French championship.