Ousmane Dembele was relieved to see his hard work rewarded as he scored his first goal for Paris Saint-Germain in Friday’s thrilling 5-2 win over Monaco.
Luis Enrique’s team stretched their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to four points as they edged a seven-goal thriller at the Parc des Princes.
Goncalo Ramos put the hosts ahead before Takumi Minamino capitalised on Gianluigi Donnarumma’s error to level for Monaco, but PSG retook the lead when Kylian Mbappe converted a penalty before the break.
Dembele put daylight between the teams when he hammered beyond Philipp Kohn from a tight angle after the restart, then Vitinha found the top-right corner with an excellent curling effort as PSG pressed home their superiority.
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Former Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun reduced the arrears with 15 minutes to play, but Randal Kolo Muani added a late fifth for PSG as they recorded a statement victory.
Speaking to Amazon Prime Video after scoring his first goal since joining from Barcelona, Dembele said the three points were the most important thing.
“It’s nice, I’m happy but the most important thing is that the team continues its momentum,” the winger said of his first goal in Ligue 1 since 2016, when he was playing for Rennes.
“I didn’t ask myself any questions, I decided to push hard, even if it doesn’t always work out for me.
“We had a very good match overall. Monaco is a team that tries to play and they pushed us to make a few small mistakes, but that’s part of football. We got up very quickly.”
That first goal feeling. Ousmane Dembélé. ???????? pic.twitter.com/Tkha0MaIiC
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) November 24, 2023
PSG’s win sets them up nicely for Tuesday’s pivotal Champions League meeting with Newcastle United, who thrashed them 4-1 in the return fixture at St James’ Park in October.
The French champions will secure their spot in the last 16 if they beat the Magpies and Borussia Dortmund avoid defeat against Milan, and midfielder Vitinha wants them to replicate Friday’s performance next time out.
“It’s a great victory against a great team, they are having a great season but we were better than them. It feels good to score,” the Portugal international said.
“The quality is there, the opportunities too. We want to be in control of the match all the time, but we didn’t succeed in the second half even though we scored three goals.
“The first half, we had control of the match. With the two goals we conceded, we have to see what happened.
“We are prepared for the Newcastle match, we can’t wait and I hope the atmosphere at the Parc des Princes will be incredible, we will need that.”
Thank you for your support tonight! ❤️????#PSGASM pic.twitter.com/Kb2w2RZk3s
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) November 24, 2023
