The message is clear: PSG is ready to face Liverpool. Ousmane Dembele and Goncalo Ramos made up for their goalkeeper Matvei Safonov’s mistake to allow the European champions to dominate Toulouse on Friday night (3-1) in the opening match of the 28th round of Ligue 1, preparing well for the English club’s visit on Wednesday in the Champions League.
The battle is expected to be intense in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final, and Paris showed commitment on Friday to put themselves in a good position. Additionally, the club consolidated its lead in the league, with four points ahead of Lens and one game in hand, as Lens plays the North derby against Lille on Saturday (9:05 pm).
The international break did not seem to disrupt Paris’ momentum, which was launched in the spectacular round of 16 against Chelsea (5-2, 3-0) and confirmed with a convincing victory against Nice (4-0). The team, overseen by Luis Enrique and featuring young talents like Lucas Beraldo in midfield, showed initiative and energy from the kick-off, especially Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Dembele, a first Ballon d’Or goal
On the other side, Toulouse provided strong opposition initially, causing Paris trouble in creating chances. However, an excellent team play from a throw-in, initiated by Lucas Hernandez and Desire Doue near the touchline, led to a poorly cleared cross being spectacularly volleyed by Ousmane Dembele into the top corner (23rd minute).
Number 10, with a relatively serious expression, remained focused on PSG’s high objectives for the end of the season without unnecessary showiness. Nevertheless, his goal deserved the celebrations from his teammates.
Next to PSG’s president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, Paris’ new mayor Emmanuel Gregoire was present to reconcile the city with PSG after years of distance during Anne Hidalgo’s mandate.
A blunder but little doubt…
But there was no time to negotiate a possible sale of the Parc des Princes: Ousmane Dembele repeated the feat 10 minutes later, capitalizing on a corner header from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, redirecting it past the goalkeeper at the near post (33rd minute).
This immediately put Paris back on track and helped forget goalkeeper Matvei Safonov’s errors, witnessed by his substitute Lucas Chevalier on the bench. The Russian first had a mishap outside his box, misjudging the ball’s height and getting lobbed, saved in a desperate action by Illia Zabarnyi. In the resulting corner, Safonov appeared to make the necessary aerial intervention but fumbled the ball, allowing Rasmus Nicolaisen to opportunely head in an equalizer (27th minute).
In the second half, after some exciting moments from “Kvara,” Doue, and Dembele, Luis Enrique brought in Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, and Joao Neves to gradually reintroduce the team’s key players.
…and management
Paris then shifted to a management mode, to the point where Luis Enrique was seen applauding a pass back from Illia Zabarnyi after feinting a forward run. This was preferred over the occasional mishits by the Ukrainian and Russian or defensive lapses. A clinical long-range strike from Goncalo Ramos at the end of the match (90th + 2) settled the contest.
The generally sluggish pace of the second half played into Paris’ hands. They can now focus on Liverpool, who will not have it easy: the Reds play against Manchester City in the cup on Saturday.
