Ousmane Dembele on Wednesday scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 4-1 win at VfB Stuttgart and qualified for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages.
PSG were at risk of elimination after a disappointing league stage, with three losses and a draw, but were utterly dominant against an outclassed Stuttgart side as they confirmed their place in the playoffs.
With six minutes gone, Bradley Barcola headed PSG in front after Desire Doue stood a cross up at the back post following a corner.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Stuttgart probed for an equalizer, but PSG hit on the counterattack, Dembele tapping a Barcola pass into an empty net.
Always a threat on the counter, Doue, Barcola and Dembele linked up again for PSG’s third, with the latter blasting in from the right.
Dembele thrashed in another superb effort shortly after halftime to snuff out Stuttgart’s unlikely comeback hopes.
Stuttgart pulled one back on 77 minutes when Willian Pacho scored an own-goal, but the damage was already done, with PSG keeping their hopes of a first Champions League trophy alive.
“There was a lot to be proud of,” Dembele told Canal Plus. “We’ve been doing well for some time now, controlling matches and winning our games. There are players who want to win things here with PSG, who run and fight for the shirt. That’s what produces these results.”
The victory relieves the pressure on PSG coach Luis Enrique and sets the French giants up for a two-legged knockout tie next month. PSG will face either of Ligue 1 rivals AS Monaco or Stade Brestois, with Dembele saying “whatever happens in the playoff, it’ll be a battle.”
The loss means Stuttgart were eliminated from the Champions League on their return to the competition after 15 years.
“We saw today what the top of the football world looks like — I can say that without jealousy or envy,” Stuttgart head coach Sebastian Hoeness said.
“It was incredible how they played,” he said.
Unbeaten and with a 10-point lead atop the table in Ligue 1, PSG had struggled with a tough draw in the competition’s new format. Losses to Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, along with a home draw against PSV Eindhoven, had PSG facing an unthinkable early exit in a competition reformed to favor Europe’s big guns.
Both sides knew a point would likely be enough to reach the knockouts and with PSG desperate to continue in Europe, they had fended off pre-match suggestions they might play for a draw in Germany.
Any such speculation was dispelled early when PSG energetically pressed Stuttgart into giving up a corner, with Barcola heading in a clever flick on from Desire Doue.
PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma saved twice in quick succession from Stuttgart’s Chris Fuehrich before the visitors hit back on the counterattack, Dembele tapping in a pass from Barcola after 26 minutes.
With new signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ineligible to play until the playoffs, Dembele showed the quality PSG already have at their disposal. The France forward put PSG up by three 10 minutes before halftime, blasting an unstoppable strike past Fabian Bredlow.
The former Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona forward completed his hat-trick in the 54th minute, curling into the top corner.
Stuttgart pushed PSG’s Pacho into an own-goal with 13 minutes remaining, but the effort remained just a consolation, with the visitors remaining in total control.
The only concern for PSG was a late injury to Warren Zaire-Emery, who hurt his knee in the dying stages.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
The CTBC Brothers from Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) on Friday announced they reached an agreement with the team’s shortstop Chiang Kun-yu (江坤宇) to extend his contract by 10 years in a deal that could worth up to NT $147.88 million (US$4.5 million). Including a NT$10 million incentive bonus, the 24-year- old’s new contract stipulates that his monthly salary will be NT$660,000 starting this year, increasing to NT$1.2 million from the fifth year of the deal. Chiang’s new agreement also comes with a caveat in the form of a “player option” where he would have the choice to become a free
RSS