PARIS: Ousmane Dembele scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain warmed up for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Liverpool by winning 4-1 away to Rennes in Ligue 1 with a much-changed team on Saturday.
Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos had PSG 2-0 up in Brittany before Lilian Brassier pulled one back for Rennes, but Dembele netted twice in stoppage time to seal the victory for the visitors.
The result allowed the Ligue 1 leaders to maintain their unbeaten record in domestic competition this season.
The Parisians are now a huge 16 points clear at the top before closest challengers Marseille play at home to Lens later.
Luis Enrique’s side were ultimately comfortable winners despite the coach making eight changes to his starting line-up in between the two legs of the Liverpool tie, with the return at Anfield coming up on Tuesday.
“We are in perfect condition to go and take on Liverpool. We have nothing to lose and we will give everything to try to qualify,” for the quarter-finals, said Luis Enrique.
“It was difficult but we put in a serious performance and it gives us lots of hope before going to Liverpool,” the Spaniard added of his team’s display.
Barcola, Joao Neves and Willian Pacho were the only players to keep their places for PSG against Rennes following the 1-0 home loss to Liverpool in the first leg last Wednesday.
Dembele was among the regular starters to be rested at kick-off, but he came off the bench just after the hour mark and the France forward’s double strike moves him onto 20 league goals for the campaign.
The player who began his career at Rennes has now scored 28 times in all competitions this season, including 23 goals in 18 appearances since mid-December.
Rennes came into the game on a run of four wins in five outings to climb up into mid-table after Habib Beye replaced Jorge Sampaoli as coach at the end of January.
However, PSG went in front at Roazhon Park on 27 minutes as Desire Doue, another former Rennes player, quickly took a free-kick just inside the home half and released Barcola to run through and score his 18th goal of the season.
Teenage forward Mohamed Kader Meite almost equalized for Rennes before the break, heading off the crossbar from Adrien Truffert’s cross.
Barcola then turned provider as PSG doubled their lead five minutes after half-time, squaring for Ramos — one of those brought into the starting line-up — to net his 13th this season in all competitions.
Center-back Brassier pulled one back for Rennes shortly after, heading in from close range after a corner had been flicked on.
However, Luis Enrique then sent on the cavalry, with Dembele, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Achraf Hakimi all coming off the bench for the latter stages.
PSG made sure of the points as Hakimi ran through on goal before unselfishly squaring for Dembele to make it 3-1 in the first minute of stoppage time at the end of the game.
Dembele then fired in his second and PSG’s fourth goal from the edge of the area in the 94th minute.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Lille were 1-0 winners at home to Montpellier in a game that fell in between the two legs of their Champions League last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund.
Jonathan David scored the only goal of the game early in the second half, the Canadian netting his 14th of the campaign in Ligue 1.
Lille are fifth in the table, behind Monaco in fourth on goal difference.
They entertain Dortmund on Wednesday after drawing 1-1 in the first leg in Germany.
Dembele hits double as PSG win ahead of Liverpool return
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Dembele hits double as PSG win ahead of Liverpool return
- Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos had PSG 2-0 up in Brittany before Lilian Brassier pulled one back for Rennes
- Dembele netted twice in stoppage time to seal the victory for the visitors
Thompson seizes lead on second day of Saudi Open
- 5 Arab players, including Saudi Arabia’s Al-Kurdi and Morocco’s Bresnu, make the weekend cut
RIYADH: Australian Jack Thompson put to rest any doubts that he would not keep his Asian Tour card for next year by charging into the lead at the halfway mark of the Saudi Open presented by PIF.
And in a boost for the Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s Shergo Al-Kurdi and Moroccan amateur Adam Bresnu were among five regional competitors to make the cut into the weekend.
They qualified alongside the UAE’s Joshua Grenville-Wood, Qatar’s Daniil Sokolov and El-Mehdi Fakori, also of Morocco.
Thompson carded a seven-under-par 65 to take a one-shot lead at the season-ending event, at Dirab Golf & Country Club just outside Riyadh.
Swede Bjorn Hellgren, playing in the same group, also fired a 65, to sit in second place while Malaysia’s Ervin Chang (64), and Runchanapong Youprayong (66) from Thailand are another stroke back.
Thompson started the week in 62nd place on the Tour’s Order of Merit, with the top-65 keeping their cards next year. He is comfortably on course to make it through with a win predicted to catapult him into seventh place.
However, there remains a long way to go and the 28-year-old from Adelaide, chasing his first win on the Asian Tour, is not getting ahead of himself.
“I mean, it’s fun to be up the top and playing because sometimes if you just make the cut or whatever, you know, obviously you’re happy to play four rounds.
“But sometimes it can be pointless, make a birdie, and might move you up a couple spots. But it’s always fun to play when it means something. So, yeah, very lucky.”
Japan’s Kazuki Higa, the Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, took a huge stride forward to finishing the year ranked No. 1 by shooting a 66 to sit five back of the leader, in joint ninth.
It means Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent, in second place on the Merit list and five-under for the tournament after a 69, when he played with Higa, needs to either win the tournament or finish second to overtake the Japanese star.
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Kurdi produced a one-under-par round to move to four-under for the tournament and secure his place for the weekend. “I felt like I had it a lot better today.
“I did a little bit of work last night, just a little bit on the scoring. I still need to work on my approach game, a little bit on proximity. I might change the plan on a couple of holes.
“It is just a couple of funky tee shots where I need to build a better plan regarding the wind. But I am in a good position. I just need to stick to the plan and take good shots.”
Meanwhile, Morocco’s Bresnu signed for a round of 72 to stay at six-under-par overall, keeping himself well positioned heading into the final two days of the Saudi Open. “Today was a little bit tough for me,” he said.
“It was not like yesterday, but in golf it is never the same, that is the beauty of it. I had seven pars and missed four birdie chances inside nine feet (2.7 meters), so it was hard, but I stayed patient.
“The course was in great condition but really tough. I still have two rounds to go, and I am glad I made the cut. We will see.”
