Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé‘s frustrating season continued when he came off with an apparent injury during the first half of the Champions League playoff against Monaco on Tuesday.
Désiré Doué came on for Dembélé, scored twice and played a part in the other goal as PSG took a 3-2 lead into the return leg next Wednesday in Paris.
Dembélé was doubtful for the game because of a leg problem and came off in the 26th minute at Stade Louis II. The Ballon d’Or winner has been hampered by injuries this season. Shortly before coming off, television images showed him twice rubbing the back of his left calf and then pulling his sock down.
Coach Luis Enrique said he did not take any risks by starting Dembélé, who was PSG’s top scorer last season with 35 goals.
“We know what shape each player is in. No risk, he trained normally,” Luis Enrique said. “We’ll have to see if there’s an injury. He took a knock in the first 15 minutes, then he couldn’t run.”
PSG was trailing 2-0 when Dembélé came off but rallied to be level 2-2 by halftime.
Dembélé was injured early in the season when playing for France and then came off in the first half in similar circumstances against Bayern Munich in November.
He also struggled with injuries at his former club Barcelona.
Doué pulled a goal back for PSG two minutes later with a low shot into the bottom right corner. Doué cupped his hands over his ears when he celebrated as if to say he was blocking out recent criticism of his performances.
“The coach makes his choices. It’s always a collective effort whether we win or lose,” Doué said. “The most important thing is to win in this kind of game.”
Prior to the game, Luis Enrique had been critical of some of his star players after they fell out of first place in Ligue 1 following a loss to Rennes on Friday.
Doué was involved in PSG’s equalizer close to halftime when his shot was pushed away by goalkeeper Philipp Köhn. The ball came straight to right back Achraf Hakimi inside the penalty area and he beat Köhn with a low shot into the bottom left.
Doué grabbed his second of the night in the 67th when he collected a pass from Warren Zaïre-Emery on the edge of the penalty area and guided a low shot into the right corner.
Köhn had made a good save to stop Vitinha‘s penalty in the 22nd and Monaco midfielder Aleksandr Golovin was sent off for a clumsy foul on Vitinha early in the first half.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
