The China Mail - PSG rally past Strasbourg to take Ligue 1 lead

Paris Saint-Germain recovered from a missed penalty and a one-goal deficit to defeat Strasbourg 3-1 and move to the top of Ligue 1.

Ousmane Dembele missed a penalty but later score as Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to win 3-1 at Strasbourg on Saturday and go top of the French Ligue 1 table. PSG trailed to an early goal from American star Giovanni Reyna at the Stade de la Meinau. Dembele, last year’s Ballon d’Or winner, came off the bench and put a penalty wide in the 72nd minute.

But he made amends in style. He set up Illia Zabarnyi for the equalizer in the 78th minute, then put the French and European champions ahead with five minutes left. He also helped set up Desire Doue for PSG’s third goal in stoppage time.

Luis Enrique’s side have now won four straight Ligue 1 games, and six in a row in all competitions including the Champions League.

“I told him: ‘If you play for 25 minutes and you give an assist and score a goal, you don’t need to play any longer. That is enough’,” Luis Enrique stated of Dembele. He was one of several PSG players rested from the starting line-up between key European games against Manchester City and Barcelona.

“Ousmane and the other players are not machines and they will not always be at their best,” the coach noted.

PSG failed to win any of their first three league games this season, but now have 14 points from seven matches. They top the table on goals scored, ahead of Lille and Monaco, before Monaco visit Lorient on Sunday. Rennes, Paris FC and Lyon can also move back above PSG when they play on Sunday.

The match came three days after PSG’s 4-2 Champions League win at City and three days before they host Barcelona. Luis Enrique made eight changes from the City game, with Dembele left on the bench with an eye on facing his former club.

Strasbourg went ahead in the 17th minute. Reyna took a pass from Gessime Yassine just inside the area, turned and beat goalkeeper Matvey Safonov low at his near post. Safonov made a superb save to deny Conrad Harder just after half-time, before Luis Enrique sent on reinforcements, including Dembele and Doue.

PSG were awarded a penalty after a VAR check confirmed that a Doue shot had struck the arm of Pape Demba Diop. But Dembele, who scored a penalty in May’s Champions League final win over Arsenal, put his kick wide. Three different PSG players have now missed penalties in their last three games.

“We have lots of players who can take them but it is true that we don’t have one specialist,” Luis Enrique stated.

Dembele then crossed from the right for Ukraine defender Zabarnyi to equalize from close range. He then controlled the ball on the edge of the box and fired in to make it 2-1. It was his first Ligue 1 goal this season, to go with three in the Champions League.

Dembele, who has been nominated again for this year’s Ballon d’Or, then brought down a long kick from Safonov and found Ferran Torres, who set up Doue to seal the win.

Elsewhere, Lille, bouncing back from a 3-0 Champions League defeat at Arsenal, needed a penalty from 40-year-old Olivier Giroud to draw 1-1 with Brest. Lens, France’s other Champions League side, won 3-1 at Troyes.

K.Lam--ThChM