Paris Saint-Germain 3 – 0 Brest
Luis Enrique’s PSG dominated Brest in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs, securing a commanding away win.
Dembélé’s Brace Puts PSG on Course for the Last 16
Brest once again struggled to contain a red-hot Ousmane Dembélé, whose brace helped PSG take a giant step toward the Champions League Round of 16.
The Parisian side secured a 3-0 victory away from home on Tuesday night, with Vitinha opening the scoring before Dembélé struck twice.
PSG nearly found themselves in trouble early due to a mistake from Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Italian goalkeeper misjudged a back pass and attempted a clearance without properly assessing his surroundings. His shot rebounded off Brest forward Ludovic’s head, but fortunately for PSG, the ball went out of play instead of into the net.
Maintaining nearly 80% possession in the opening minutes, PSG steadily increased the pressure. Their breakthrough came in the 21st minute, when Vitinha converted a penalty after VAR confirmed a handball by Brest midfielder Les-Melou inside the box.
Brest came close to equalizing in the 35th minute, winning their first corner of the match through a swift counterattack. Striker Slimani connected with a header, but his effort was denied by the post.
Just before halftime, PSG doubled their lead. Achraf Hakimi set up Dembélé, who burst into the box and fired a low shot past the near post, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance.
With that goal, Dembélé extended his scoring streak in Europe’s biggest competition, finding the net for the third consecutive match.
Brest started the second half aggressively and nearly pulled one back in the 48th minute, but Donnarumma managed to keep his goal intact with a crucial save.
Two minutes later, PSG thought they had scored again when Bradley Barcola set up Désiré Doué for an easy tap-in. However, VAR ruled Barcola offside in the buildup, and the goal was disallowed.
Dembélé struck again in the 66th minute, sealing PSG’s victory. His shot inside the box took a deflection off a Brest defender before nestling into the net, making it 3-0.
The French winger has now scored six goals in this season’s Champions League, including a hat-trick in the last three matches. Against Brest alone, he has netted seven goals across three encounters this season. With his current form, Dembélé has now scored 23 goals across all competitions this season, with 18 of them coming in his last 10 matches.
Despite being on the losing end, Brest showed more attacking intent in the second half, registering as many shots (16) as PSG throughout the game. However, their lack of clinical finishing proved costly.
Following this heavy defeat, Brest now faces a daunting challenge in the second leg at PSG’s home ground next Wednesday.
