Unstoppable Dembele earns PSG 3-0 win at Brest
Paris St Germain seized control of their Champions League playoff with a commanding 3-0 first-leg win at Brest on Tuesday, driven by a brace from forward Ousmane Dembele.
The match, which marked only the second time two French sides had faced each other in Champions League history, was dominated by a clinical PSG despite Brest also having their chances.
PSG broke the deadlock after 21 minutes, with Vitinha converting a penalty after Pierre Lees-Melou's handball.
Brest were very much in the match when Abdallah Sima's header hit the post just after the half-hour mark.
The visitors, however, doubled their lead when Dembele cut inside from the right flank and beat the keeper at his near post with a low strike in the final minute of the first half, scoring in his eighth consecutive match for PSG.
Just after the break, PSG's Desire Doue was played through and slotted home with ease, but after a minute-long VAR check, the goal was ruled out for offside.
In the 66th minute, Dembele secured his brace, latching onto a loose ball in the box before sending a shot past Brest keeper Marco Bizot.
The 27-year-old Dembele has now scored 18 goals in his last 11 matches, while PSG are unbeaten against Brest in their last 31 encounters, with their last defeat coming in 1985.
The result leaves Brest with a mountain to climb in the return leg at the Parc des Princes on February 19.
Late Mbangula strike gives Juventus 2-1 first-leg lead over PSV
Juventus substitute Samuel Mbangula snatched a late winner as the Italian giants beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League knockout phase playoff tie on Tuesday.
The Belgian's 82nd minute close-range finish handed Juve a slender advantage to take to the Netherlands for next week’s return leg after PSV fought back from a halftime deficit.
A thunderous strike from Weston McKennie had put the hosts into a 34th minute lead but Ivan Perisic, who turned 36 this month, put PSV level 10 minutes into the second half.
Both sides, who have previously won Europe’s top club prize, had chances in a flowing game and will feel they can progress to the last 16 in the return encounter next Wednesday.
Juventus' opening goal was all down to the persistence of marauding defender Federico Gatti, eager to press forward on the right flank and who intercepted a poor clearance before taking the ball to the byline and putting in a dangerous cross.
PSV failed to clear properly as the ball bounced around in the six-yard box before falling again to Gatti, who chested it into the path of McKennie on the edge of the penalty area, setting up the American for a thunderous drive into the net.
The home side had made a lively start, pegging back PSV almost immediately and setting up chances for Kenan Yildiz, Timothy Weah and Nicolas Gonzalez but the Dutch side also had first-half opportunities.
Juve were also quick out of the blocks after the break and were denied a second goal in the 51st minute as Mbangula’s strike from Weah’s sprint down the wing and pinpoint cross was cleared off the goal-line by PSV defender Ryan Flamingo.
Five minutes later PSV were level as Noa Lang cut inside off the wing onto the edge of the box, the ball looping up in the air as his attempted shot was blocked by Manuel Locatelli.
It fell for Croatian Perisic who expertly brought the ball down with a cool first touch, then switched it to his left and squeezed his low shot inside the near post.
There had been appeals for a handball against Lang in the build-up but the goal was confirmed after a VAR check.
Juventus secured their narrow victory with eight minutes remaining as Francisco Conceicao’s ran down the right and crossed, with goalkeeper Walter Benitez palming the ball onto the foot of Mbangula, who gratefully snapped up the chance.
Guirassy on target as Dortmund cruise past hosts Sporting 3-0
Borussia Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy scored one and set up another in a 3-0 victory at Sporting in their Champions League playoff first leg on Tuesday to put last year's finalists in the driving seat for a spot in the last 16.
Champions League top scorer Guirassy headed in his 10th goal of the competition on the hour mark before providing Pascal Gross with a perfect assist to double the lead in the 68th.
Karim Adeyemi added another in the 82nd minute, completing a five-touch textbook counter-attack, to mark a winning European debut on the Dortmund bench for Niko Kovac ahead of next week's return leg.
The Croat had taken over last week but saw his team lose at home to VfB Stuttgart in his league debut on Saturday, with Dortmund struggling in the Bundesliga and at risk of missing out on next season's Champions League.
Sporting were more aggressive at the start and hit the woodwork with Maxi Araujo's powerful drive bouncing off the crossbar.
Another shot from Conrad Harder in the 35th was palmed wide by Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel with the visitors failing to register a single shot on target in the first half.
That came in the 55th minute when Adeyemi's low drive was blocked by Rui Silva. Guinea international Guirassy, however, gave the keeper no chance, wrongfooting him with a looping header from a Julian Brandt cross.
The Germans kept up the pressure and eight minutes later doubled their lead, as Guirassy whipped in a cross and Gross volleyed in from close range.
Well before Adeyemi struck in the 82nd, Sporting had seemingly thrown in the towel, unable to break past the Dortmund defence, even after bringing on the Portuguese league's top striker Viktor Gyokeres.