Paris, sovereign in Ligue 1, has in its sights the decisive matches for its future in the Champions League, on January 22 and 29 against Manchester City and Stuttgart.
Dembélé is not always the most exemplary of attackers, between failures in front of goal and a sometimes nonchalant attitude, to the point of causing tensions with Luis Enrique in the first part of the season.
But he has just done a great service to his boss and to all of PSG, who have long stumbled against a good Monaco, eager to take revenge after the defeat at home on December 18 in Ligue 1 (4-2). Because a defeat for PSG in the country of its owner would have looked bad.
After the cancellation of the event planned in China, it was Qatar, the 974 stadium and its famous containers which hosted the meeting. Despite the very attractive prices, the venue was far from full. The Ultras from the Auteuil stand of PSG did not come. But the Emir of Qatar and FIFA President Gianni Infantino were there.
Paris was playing “in its second home”, according to Luis Enrique, and as evidenced by the cheers at each Parisian acceleration.
In the first half, PSG returned to its shortcomings of the first half of the season, with significant offensive waste. From the third minute, the lack of responsiveness of Ousmane Dembélé, placed in false 9, underlined the absence of Gonçalo Ramos, a real 9, left on the bench.
Draft
Désiré Doué, in good shape before the Christmas holidays, then found the bar after an error from Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Köhn (9th). And Joao Neves on a good recovery (10th), Ousmane Dembélé twice after breaking through the axis (21st, 23rd) or even Lee Kang-in just before half-time lacked precision.
Monaco did not give up with a great battle fought in midfield. Maghnes Akliouche, very lively, tested Gianluigi Donnarumma, who had saved an impressive scar from a clash with Wilfried Singo during the recent confrontation against Monaco on December 18. The Italian goalkeeper was nevertheless fit on Sunday and produced a good copy.
The match was nevertheless messy at times, and even more so in the second half. It started rather well with a ball which circulated very quickly from one end of the field to the other and interesting situations galore: a too-soft point-blank shot from Ben Seghir (53rd), Doué who committed the same youthful sin on the counter-attack that follows, a post from Vanderson on the next one, a tackle from Caio Henrique against Hakimi, in an ideal situation at six meters, Hakimi who wants to slip the ball past the first post but stumbles upon Köhn…
The Swiss goalkeeper, usual replacement for the injured Majecki, almost sickened the Parisians, since he then defeated Ramos at point blank range, causing a huge thrill in the stands.
But the Qatari public was finally able to exult during a victorious overflow from the incoming Fabian Ruiz, who sent a curling cross which narrowly passed Hakimi before being caught despite the tricky rebound by Ousmane Dembélé (90+2 ).
The Parisian players on the field and the bench rushed to surround him and even the phlegmatic sports advisor Luis Campos, in the technical zone, was making great leaps. Akliouche sighed in his distress.
Par Le360 (with AFP)
01/05/2025 at 8:14 p.m.
