PSG 2-1 St-Etienne: 3 Key Takeaways from the Match

PSG hosted Saint-Etienne on Matchday 17 of the Ligue 1 McDonald's and came out victorious of their clash (2-1). Ousmane Dembélé scored twice in the first half to give a decisive lead to his side, Davitashvili cut Les Verts' deficit from a free-kick just outside the box in the second half. In this game, three things caught our attention and we are

PSG 2-1 St-Etienne: 3 Key Takeaways from the Match

1. Dembélé is on fire

At the moment Ousmane Dembélé is simply on fire, the Frenchman is without a doubt PSG's best offensive player. The 27-year-old has just scored his 10th league goal of the season, proving that he significantly improved in front of the goal and is now Paris' offensive leader. Furthermore, Ousmane Dembélé scored 7 goals in his last 5 outings. Outside of his two goals scored against Les Verts, the France international showed once again that he remains constantly dangerous for his opponents. Hopefully, this great peak of form is well-timed and the former Barcelona player will be able to carry it against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City with Paris fighting to qualify for the playoff phase of the competition.

2. Mayulu is first team ready

Senny Mayulu earned his third start of the season as Luis Enrique opted to largely rotate the squad against Saint-Etienne. And the 18-year-old made once again good use of the opportunity given by the Spaniard and showcased remarkable qualities with or without the ball. The "Titi" was one of the top performers for Les Parisiens and clearly showed that he has the abilities to earn more consistent minutes with the first team. While players such as Vitinha, Neves, and Zaire-Emery are at the top of the hierarchy in the midfield for Paris, Mayulu proved once more that he is not far from becoming an important figure for the club in the near future.

3. Barcola's poor run of form continues

After an amazing start of the season, things have been a bit more difficult for Bradley Barcola lately. The France international was Paris' main offensive threat but ended up loosing his spot in the starting line-up as Désiré Doué is playing superbly at the moment. Moreover, the probable imminent arrival of Georgian star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to the club will make things more complicated for the Frenchman who might struggle to have minutes in the second part of the season if he doesn't turn a new leaf soon. Though, our analysis of his game could have been very differdifferent had his goal no been disallowed by VAR. However, according to Luis Enrique, Barcola just needs to regain his confidence.

" It's confidence", said Luis Enrique in post-match press conference. "How to give him confidence? He is exceptional. He remains the same as he was at the start of the season. He is just not scoring goals but he remains exceptional. We took him for his qualities. He brings to the teams what we should bring. He gives assists, he is improving. That's not his best period but he will come back at his best."