Led by Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé, both authors of a double, PSG took a further step towards a 12th French championship title by winning in Lorient (4-1) this Wednesday. The title will be validated this evening if Monaco does not beat Lille.
It’s only a matter of hours. Or days. By winning this Wednesday on the Lorient lawn in a late match of the 29th day of Ligue 1 (4-1), PSG moved a little closer to a third French championship title in a row , the 10th since the arrival of QSI in 2011 and the 12th in the club’s history. The trophy will even be in our pocket this evening, four days before the end of the championship, if its runner-up Monaco fails to beat Lille at Louis-II (9 p.m.).
>> Relive Lorient-PSG (1-4)
Far from these concerns, the Merlus remain stuck in penultimate place with this fourth setback in a row. Engaged in a fight for survival which promises suspense until the end, they are two lengths behind Le Havre, virtual roadblock, and three behind FC Metz, first non-relegation.
As against OL on Sunday (4-1), we didn’t have to wait very long to see Paris make the difference. Despite a new turnover, with several executives left to rest (Marquinhos, Achraf Hakimi, Bradley Barcola, Vitinha and Warren Zaire-Emery) and two 17-year-olds lined up from the start by Luis Enrique (Yoram Zague on the right side and Senny Mayulu in the middle), Paris dived straight out of the first quarter of an hour.
The Mbappé-Dembélé duo radiant
And as often in recent weeks, the light came from Ousmane Dembélé. Served by Mayulu on a high recovery, the former Rennais mystified the Lorient defense with a feint, before adjusting Yvon Mvogo with an unstoppable left strike (19th). Already a scorer in the home and away matches against Barça in the Champions League, then remaining on the bench against Lyon, Dembélé is in royal form, to the point of having even passed a milestone in the conclusion of his actions.
Also spared three days earlier at the Parc, Kylian Mbappé was responsible for making the break at Moustoir, with a bit of success on a serve from Nuno Mendes (22nd). A big blow behind the heads of the Lorientais, yet they came close to opening the score on an attempt from their midfielder Ayman Kari (12th), on loan from… PSG. Invited by their public to “move”, Régis Le Bris’ men had another big opportunity half an hour into the game.
But Gianluigi Donnarumma reminded us to what extent he knows how to be imperial on his line by deflecting a header from Tiémoué Bakayoko (31st). Effective on both surfaces, Paris took shelter in the second half with a technical festival from Mbappé – with a small bridge over Nathaniel Adjei – concluded by Dembélé (61st). Enough to allow Luis Enrique to carry out a new squad review, including the entry of Ethan Mbappé for his second appearance of the season in Ligue 1.
On the Lorient side, the changes will have brought a little more dynamism, and posed problems for the Parisian collective. Beaten by a header from Mohamed Bamba (74th) to reduce the gap, Donnarumma then had to work to prevent the locals from believing in a reversal of the situation. And in added time (90th), Kylian Mbappé appeared to score his 26th league goal of the season, and further boost the confidence of his team in search of an incredible quadruple.