Soccer Football - Champions League - Knockout Phase Playoff - First Leg - Brest v Paris St Germain - Stade de Roudourou, Guingamp, France - February 11, 2025 Paris St Germain's Ousmane Dembele celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
GUINGAMP, France (Reuters) -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.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Toby Davis)
