Paris Saint-Germain return to the French capital with a slender edge after a 1-0 win over Arsenal on Tuesday evening within the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal at Emirates Stadium.
Ousmane Dembele struck early for PSG, scoring the lone aim simply 4 minutes in. He initiated the play with a go to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, then continued his run into the field, the place Kvaratskhelia discovered him with a slick outside-of-the-foot return. Dembele completed the transfer with a low shot that glanced off the submit and in.
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Arsenal appeared to have pulled stage later within the match, however the aim was disallowed following a VAR evaluation, preserving PSG’s one-goal lead forward of the return leg at Parc des Princes.
The win, nevertheless, got here at a price. Dembele exited with an harm, and his standing for subsequent Wednesday’s second leg is now in query.
Pundit on PSG’s probabilities to advance with out Ousmane Dembele
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that the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner suffered a minor hamstring harm. In consequence, if Dembele is compelled to overlook the return leg towards the Gunners, it might spell main bother for PSG.
“It’s a disaster as a result of right this moment he’s change into an indispensable participant,” Christophe Dugarry stated on Rothen S’Enflamme (h/t ). “He’s greater than necessary—he’s important, due to his stats, his habits, his angle, his work price, his management… He’s change into indispensable. Though they’re very sturdy collectively, although they’re a real staff, it’s nonetheless the people who make the distinction. If you lose your finest participant, the one who’s taking part in with essentially the most confidence, it’s a disaster.
“That stated, I’m not going to let you know Paris Saint-Germain can’t qualify with out Dembele… They completely can, however it’ll be a lot more durable—it’ll be a very totally different match. They might want to consider one thing else, put a special plan in place, I don’t know… In any case, for Luis Enrique, it could be a significant disruption.”
