Ousmane Dembele scored twice in stoppage time as Paris Saint-Germain secured a comfortable 4-1 victory over Rennes in Ligue 1 on Saturday, keeping their unbeaten domestic record intact ahead of the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Liverpool.
PSG were 2-0 up at half-time, with Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos both on the scoresheet. Rennes pulled one back through Lilian Brassier, but Dembele’s brace in injury time sealed the win for the visitors.
The result stretched PSG’s lead at the top of Ligue 1 to an impressive 16 points, with closest rivals Marseille set to play Lens later in the day.
Despite making eight changes to his starting lineup in preparation for Tuesday’s crucial return leg at Anfield, Luis Enrique’s side cruised to a deserved victory.
“We are in perfect condition to face Liverpool. We have nothing to lose and will give everything to try to qualify for the quarter-finals,” said Luis Enrique after the game. “It was a difficult match, but we put in a solid performance, and it gives us a lot of confidence heading into the Liverpool game.”
Key players rested for the Champions League push
Barcola, Joao Neves, and Willian Pacho were the only players to retain their spots in the starting XI following PSG’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in the first leg last Wednesday. Dembele, one of the regular starters, was rested at the beginning but came on just after the hour mark, netting twice to bring his league tally to 20 goals for the season.
The French forward, who began his career at Rennes, now has 28 goals in all competitions this season, with 23 of those coming in just 18 appearances since mid-December.
Rennes, in good form with four wins from their last five matches, had hoped to challenge PSG, but they fell behind in the 27th minute. Former Rennes player Desire Doue quickly took a free-kick just inside the opposition half, releasing Barcola to score his 18th goal of the campaign.
Rennes came close to equalizing before the break when teenage forward Mohamed Kader Meite hit the crossbar with a header from Adrien Truffert’s cross.
PSG show their class in the second half
Five minutes after the break, Barcola turned provider, setting up Ramos—one of the changes in the starting lineup—to score his 13th goal of the season.
Rennes responded through Brassier, who headed in from close range following a corner flicked on. However, PSG soon regained control of the match after several key substitutions from Luis Enrique.
Dembele, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and Achraf Hakimi all came on in the latter stages, and it was Hakimi who assisted Dembele’s first goal in stoppage time. The Moroccan squared the ball for Dembele, who made it 3-1 in the first minute of injury time.
Dembele then completed his brace in the 94th minute, firing a strike into the net from the edge of the box to wrap up a 4-1 win.
In other Ligue 1 action on Saturday, Lille, who are preparing for their Champions League last-16 return leg against Borussia Dortmund, hosted bottom-placed Montpellier. Lille will entertain Dortmund on Wednesday after drawing 1-1 in the first leg in Germany.
AFP
