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Ousmane Dembele scored a spectacular volley as part of a double by the Ballon d’Or holder to help Paris Saint-Germain move four points clear at the top of Ligue 1 by beating Toulouse at the Parc des Princes.
On his full return following a calf injury, forward Dembele netted for a fourth time in as many starts in all competitions with a near-unstoppable strike from the edge of the penalty area to give PSG a 23rd-minute lead against their ninth placed opponents.
Centre-back Rasmus Nicolaisen replied with a precise equaliser four minutes later courtesy of a looping header after the hosts struggled to deal with a corner, but Dembele pounced to prod PSG back in front in the 33rd minute winner when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia nodded on Lee Kang-In’s corner.
Substitute Goncalo Ramos collected Nuno Mendes’s pass and curled in from distance via a post to complete the scoring in style in the 92nd minute.
Lens, who also have seven league matches remaining, visit fifth-placed Lille on Saturday (20:05 BST).
Liverpool visit Paris on Wednesday in the Champions League quarter-finals, followed by the second leg six days later at Anfield (both 20:00 BST) – and on this evidence, PSG will be daunting but fallible opponents for the Premier League side.
The reigning European champions had 72% of possession and finished on an expected goals total of 1.79 to Toulouse’s 0.16, with the main note of concern arguably Matvei Safonov’s performance.
The goalkeeper was culpable for Toulouse’s equaliser and made several other potentially costly errors that went unpunished.
At the other end, Dembele and Ramos again proved they can change games with memorable first-time finishes from long range.
Toulouse emerged with credit but have now lost four of their last five league away matches and will drop into the bottom half of the table if Lorient avoid defeat or Brest win this weekend, with both of those teams at home.
Carles Martinez Novell’s team are nine points from the European qualification places with six matches of their league season remaining and a game less to play than the teams around them.
| Team | Played | Points | GD | |
| 1 | PSG | 27 | 63 | +38 |
| 2 | Lens | 27 | 59 | +30 |
| 3 | Marseille | 27 | 49 | +19 |
PSG confirmed team vs Toulouse
Fabian Ruiz (knee), Bradley Barcola (ankle) and Quentin Ndjantou were out for PSG but Achraf Hakimi started following a ban, making his 200th appearance for the club.
Paris Saint-Germain starting XI: Matvei Safonov, Achraf Hakimi, Lucas Beraldo, Illia Zabarnyi, Lucas Hernandez, Willian Pacho, Lee Kang-in, Warren Zaire-Emery, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue
PSG substitutes: Lucas Chevalier, Renato Marin, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Dro Fernandez, Goncalo Ramos, Ibrahim Mbaye, Joao Neves
Toulouse full line up vs PSG
Toulouse were without Abu Francis (leg), Charlie Creswell (ankle), Frank Magri (knee) and Rafik Messali and Alex Dominguez (both ankle). Santiago Hidalgo was suspended.
Djibril Sidibe started, having been a doubt with a knock.
Toulouse starting XI: Guillaume Restes, Rasmus Nicolaisen, Mark McKenzie, Djibril Sidibe, Dayann Methalie, Seny Koumbassa, Pape Diop, Cristian Yepez, Yann Gnantin, Aron Donnum, Emersonn Silva
Toulouse substitutes: Christian Haug, Naime Mchindra, Waren Kamanzi, Gaetan Piernas, Mario Sauer, Julian Vignolo, Jacen Rowe, Ilyas Azizi, Alexis Vossah
PSG vs Toulouse stats
- PSG earned a fourth consecutive win in all competitions but a first at home in the league since February 21, having lost their only such match since 3-1 to Monaco on March 6
- They have won their last four meetings with Toulouse by an aggregate of 16-4
- Six of their last seven home meetings with Toulouse have ended victoriously
- Dembele has four braces in seven starts this season in Ligue 1
- Toulouse were seeking a third straight win, having followed up a 4-3 win at Metz with a 1-0 home victory over Lorient
- They have one clean sheet in nine matches in all competitions
- Les Violets’ one win in their last 15 matches against PSG was a 3-1 away victory in May 2024
