PSG concludes the first leg undefeated after its success against Saint-Etienne

What if 2025 was the year of Ousmane Dembélé at Paris Saint-Germain? The Parisian striker, already a decisive scorer on January 5 during the Champions Trophy won against Monaco (1-0), did it again this Sunday, January 12 in the evening by scoring the two goals for his team during the victory against Saint- Etienne (2-1), at the end of the 17th^e day of Ligue 1.

With these two achievements, the number 10 now has ten goals in Ligue 1 and is the club’s top scorer, at the same height as Bradley Barcola, less effective in recent weeks. He returns in the wake of Lille Jonathan David and Marseillais Mason Greenwood (11 goals) in the ranking of top scorer in the French championship.

But above all, with this victory – the third in a row in L1 – PSG still dominates the debates with seven points ahead of Marseille and has shown a certain efficiency, which will have to be transposed into the Champions League on January 22 against Manchester City then to Stuttgart on January 29, to hope to see the rest of the European competition.

First tenure for Lucas Hernandez since May 2024

For the match against Saint-Etienne – quite boring in the second part after a very lively first – and before a long and important month of January, Luis Enrique had made a lot of changes: a left-handed central hinge with Lucas Beraldo and Lucas Hernandez and an original midfielder with Senny Mayulu, Fabian Ruiz and Lee Kang-in. The three usual starters – Vitinha, Neves and Zaire-Emery – started on the bench.

Aligned at the forefront of the attack while he was rather used as a substitute in recent times, Gonçalo Ramos rather poorly exploited the few balls he received and was not well enough placed to take back crosses like that at ground level with Barcola at the hour of play or with Dembélé (34^e). But the latter had already done the job before, scoring with a nice left shot after effective ball control (1-0, 13^e) then on a penalty generously awarded for a handball in the area (2-0, 23^e).

Barcola lacked success in the form of a shot that was not worked out enough and directly on the Greens goalkeeper, Gautier Larsonneur (35^e), and a goal disallowed for a serious foul (39^e).

In the second half, Saint-Etienne reduced the gap thanks to a direct free kick from Georgian Zuriko Davitashvili (2-1, 64^e), who took advantage of a poorly positioned Parisian wall.

It was just after the exit of French defender Lucas Hernandez, who had his first start since the Champions League semi-final first leg in Dortmund in May 2024, where he was seriously injured in one knee. Until then, he had made two competitive appearances, against OL on December 15 then against Monaco on December 18. He still has a few games left (in the Coupe de France, Wednesday against Espaly, a National 3 club, then at Lens in Ligue 1 on Saturday) to apply as an indisputable starter in the two decisive Champions League matches.

Montpellier needs a “miracle”

Behind PSG, if OM has given itself some margin over the pack of podium contenders, with five points ahead of Monaco (3^e) thanks to its success on Saturday in Rennes, Lens (7^e) joined the pack of contenders for European places by winning in Le Havre (2-1) on Sunday. The Sang et Or come back one length behind Lyon (6^e), beaten on Saturday in Brest (2-1). They won thanks in particular to a goal from Central African recruit Goduine Koyalipou for his very first Lens match, responding to the opener from Le Havre leader André Ayew. Deiver Machado gave the victory to the Artésiens.

With this fifth defeat in a row, the Normans remain penultimate, four lengths behind Saint-Etienne, 16^e and dam operator.

For its part, Montpellier has taken a further step towards Ligue 2, and “it’s going to take a little miracle” to avoid relegation, admitted his coach, Jean-Louis Gasset after a defeat against Angers (3-1), a competitor for maintenance, in conditions betraying the fragile nerves of the red lantern.

The Pailladins finished at nine, with two exclusions in quick succession, of Kiki Kouyaté who had just come into play, for two yellows, and of the new captain Jordan Ferri, for a bad gesture. He had just inherited the armband taken from Téji Savanier, Montpellier’s only scorer from the penalty spot. Thanks to a double from Esteban Lepaul and a goal from Zinedine Ferhat at the end of added time, Angers took ten steps ahead of Montpellier and especially three points over Saint-Etienne.

Finally, Strasbourg won in Toulouse (2-1) thanks to a double from the Dutchman Emanuel Emegha, and finds itself 9^e one point behind his opponent of the day.