Paris Saint-Germain defeated AS Monaco 5-2 in the 13th round of the 2023-24 French Ligue 1 at the Parc des Princes, located in Paris, France, at 5 a.m. on Saturday (Korea time). PSG took the lead with nine wins, three draws and one loss (30 points).
Home team PSG put forward a 4-3-3 formation. Kylian Mbappe, Gonzalo Hamus and Usman Dembele were deployed in the attack. Vitinha, Manuel Ugarte and Fabian Lewis formed the midfield. The back four was paired with Nordi Mukiele, Luca Hernandez, Milan Shkriniar, and Archiraf Hakimi, while the goalkeeper’s gloves were worn by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Lee Kang-in was listed as a substitute.
Monaco faced off in a 3-4-2-1 formation. One-top was flanked by Polarin Balogun, followed by Alexandre Golovin and Minamino Takumi. Denis Zakaria and Mohamed Kamara were located in the midfield, and both wingbacks consisted of Ismail Jacobs and Van der Song. The third back was named by Sungutu Magasa, Guillermo Maripan and Wilfried Singo. Finally, Philippe kept the goal.
Dembele, who started the game, played as a right wing forward as usual. Dembele destroyed the sides. He kept teasing the opponent with his unique dribbling. He also served as a starting point for the first goal. In the 18th minute of the first half, the left foot shot that he hit while moving from the right side to the center headed straight to the goalkeeper. However, Harmus finished the second ball and scored the first goal.
He also scored his team’s second goal. In the 38th minute of the first half, Dembele displayed aggressive pressure when the ball was taken away, and eventually kicked a foul in the penalty box to secure a penalty kick. He became the hero of the third goal. After receiving Lewis’ space pass at the 25th minute of the second half, Dembele broke through wide back space and fired a shot with his right foot to shake the net. It was Dembele’s debut goal in PSG.
Dembele is a resource that PSG recruited with high expectations. PSG paid 50 million euros for the team. Even after moving to PSG, Dembele vitalized his team’s attack by bringing his unique dribbling, sharp crosses, and moving from side to center. 안전놀이터
However, Dembele rarely scored a goal. He has swallowed his disappointment by failing to score a single goal in the past 15 games. Dembele accumulated attack points by scoring four assists but failed to score a goal, sparking criticism and discontent.
He scored for the first time in 16 games. Dembele was involved in one goal and two goals on the day, displaying robust performance. After 72 minutes, he made two shots on goal, eight dribbling attempts (successful four times), two key passes, and 13 contests (successful eight times). The soccer statistics medium “Sopa Score” also gave Dembele 8.3 points in rating, the highest rating on the day.