Dembele Shrugs Off Penalty Miss as PSG Come From Behind to Beat Strasbourg 3-1 and Go Top
Paris Saint-Germain left it late to move level on points at the top of Ligue 1 as Ousmane Dembele came off the bench to inspire a 3-1 comeback win away to Strasbourg on Saturday.
Luis Enrique elected to rest several of his big-hitters after PSG's superb 4-2 Champions League win over Manchester City on Wednesday, with Dembele, Achraf Hakimi, Desire Doue and Vitinha all watching on from the sidelines as Strasbourg took a deserved first-half lead through Giovanni Reyna.
Reyna Punishes a Bright but Blunt PSG
PSG started brightly, and only the fingertips of Filip Jorgensen kept out Ferran Torres' header. But the visitors' dominance went without reward, and they fell behind moments later. After heading just wide, Reyna made no mistake in the 17th minute, collecting Gessime Yassine's pass before squeezing the ball in at Matvey Safonov's near post, with his shot taking a nick off Lucas Hernandez on its way in.
The hosts continued to push for a second, Safonov producing a stunning save low to his left to keep out Conrad Harder's glancing header. Luis Enrique responded with a triple change before also introducing Dembele and Hakimi just after the hour mark.
Yet it was Strasbourg who kept threatening, Harder again forcing Safonov into action at his near post before the PSG goalkeeper got down to thwart Karim Coulibaly.
From Penalty Miss to Match-Winner
Following that flurry of goalmouth action, PSG were awarded a penalty when Doue's shot towards goal was handled by Pape Diop - only for Dembele to send the spot-kick past Jorgensen's post in the 72nd minute.
Dembele atoned for his error six minutes later, his teasing delivery to the back post turned in by Illia Zabarnyi to level things up. PSG then went ahead five minutes from time, Coulibaly only able to clear Hakimi's cross as far as Dembele, who shifted the ball onto his left foot before squeezing his effort under the grasp of Jorgensen.
The Ligue 1 champions rubber-stamped the win in the 93rd minute when Doue swept into an empty net after being teed up by Ferran.
Super Subs Make the Difference
After the midweek heroics against City, Enrique's rotation left his team disjointed in the opening period. But once his first-team regulars entered the fray, there only looked like being one winner.
Dembele did not let his head drop after his penalty miss, finishing with team-high totals for shots (four) and touches in the opposition box (eight). Doue also impressed off the bench, his two shots on target more than any other PSG player, while Vitinha showed his class by creating a team-leading three chances.
The result saw PSG score in their 14th consecutive away game in Ligue 1. Only between January and September 2021 (15) have they managed to do so in more consecutive road matches. They also won after trailing at half-time away from home in the top flight for the first time since January 2025, against Lens.
Enrique's side were deserving victors, finishing with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.61 from their 18 attempts, to Strasbourg's 0.97 from 16 shots. The PSG boss will nevertheless want to see more improvement when they welcome Barcelona to the Parc des Princes in the Champions League next week.