PSG 3-1 Toulouse: Ousmane Dembélé stars as Paris dominate Toulouse

PSG’s strong lineup going into last night’s clash with Toulouse was a statement of intent from Luis Enrique, and seemed to indicate that this game was not being cast away in favour of next week’s first leg Champions League clash against Liverpool, ostensibly a bigger game.

The front three selected in last night’s game, of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Désiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé, is almost certainly the one that will start in midweek, and in the absence of Bradley Barcola, will presumably be PSG’s first choice attack for the rest of the season.

Ousmane Dembélé leads Paris to victory

It was the Georgian star who fired the first warning shot for Toulouse last night, seeing a powerful early shot well saved by Toulouse shot stopper Guillaume Restes. In general, it was a devastating attacking performance from the Parisians, who set the tempo from early on and cut through the Toulouse defence with ease repeatedly. The opening goal was a rocket from the Ballon D’or holder Dembélé, whose volley from the edge of the box was yet another reminder of his world class talent. The winger has looked back to his very best in recent weeks, and last night was arguably his sharpest performance of the season yet. Liverpool beware.

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses for the Parisians, however, and a few minutes later Rasmus Nicolaisen nodded home an equaliser for the visitors after a poor attempt at claiming a corner from Safonov. A timely reminder, perhaps, of the issues still plaguing PSG’s backline, and of continued the lack of a world class goalkeeper in PSG’s ranks.

Parity didn’t last long, and Ousmane Dembélé was soon at it again, tapping in from a corner after a flick on from Kvaratskehlia. Another goal that typifies the transformation that Dembélé’s whole game has undergone over the last eighteen months as it demonstrates his increased goalscoring instinct: scoring ‘easier’ goals has become a bigger part of Dembélé’s game and has seen his reputation shift from inconsistent maverick to arguably the best player in the world.

In the second half, PSG continued to create chances, with Pacho somehow failing to fumble home a loose ball in the box, but failed to add a third until late on, as substitute Goncalo Ramos, having just entered the field of play in place of Desiré Doué, curled home a delightful finish from outside the box after some good work from Nuno Mendes. Ramos’s talent off the bench could be a real weapon going forwards for Liverpool, and Enrique will know it’s a weapon he could deploy against Liverpool in midweek in case of a tight game that needs to be opened up.

With the game against Strasbourg having been moved in view of PSG’s European progress, PSG’s attentions now turn entirely to Europe and to Liverpool, in what promises to be an enthralling clash. Based on yesterday’s performance, PSG certainly look ready.