Dembélé misses a penalty, then scores and assists as PSG win 3-1 at Strasbourg

Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to win 3-1 at Strasbourg on Saturday, with substitute Ousmane Dembélé missing a penalty, setting up the equaliser and scoring the winner. Giovanni Reyna put Strasbourg ahead in the 17th minute and the lead held until the 77th, when Illia Zabarnyi volleyed in Dembélé's cross. Dembélé's goal came in the 85th minute, and Désiré Doué made it 3-1 in stoppage time.

Strasbourg strike first

Three days after the 4-2 win at Manchester City, PSG coach Luis Enrique made eight changes to his starting XI, according to the Strasbourg daily DNA. Warren Zaïre-Emery, Zabarnyi, Lucas Hernández and Lucas Digne formed a reshuffled back four, with Maghnes Akliouche, Ferran Torres and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in attack. Reyna, left unmarked on the left side of PSG's defence, turned and shot low at the near post of PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov. According to franceinfo, it was the fourth time in seven league matches this season that PSG had fallen behind.

Strasbourg could have doubled the lead. Fabio Baldé narrowly missed in the 33rd minute, and Safonov dived to keep out a Conrad Harder header five minutes after the break, then pushed another Harder shot onto the post.

The bench changes the game

Luis Enrique sent on Vitinha, Doué and Nuno Mendes in the 53rd and 54th minutes, then Achraf Hakimi and Dembélé on 63 minutes. Doué won a penalty when his shot struck the hand of Strasbourg's Demba Diop, awarded after a VAR review, but Dembélé put his 72nd-minute kick wide. It was PSG's third missed penalty in three matches, after Doué against Le Mans and Ferran Torres at Manchester City. RMC Sport counts nine misses in PSG's last 19 penalties in official matches, shoot-outs excluded.

Dembélé made amends five minutes later. From a corner, Vitinha passed to Dembélé on the right, whose cross found Zabarnyi unmarked at the far post for a volleyed equaliser. In the 85th minute Dembélé collected a loose ball at the edge of the box, cut inside and beat Strasbourg goalkeeper Filip Jørgensen with a low left-footed shot. In stoppage time he laid the ball off to Ferran Torres, who found Doué alone on the far side for 3-1.

What they said

"I told him: 'If you play 25 minutes to give an assist and score a goal, you don't need to play more. That's enough,'" Luis Enrique said of Dembélé. "He was annoyed because he missed the penalty." On penalties, the Spanish coach added: "We have a lot of players who can take them, but it's true that we lack a specialist."

Strasbourg coach Hugo Oliveira pointed to the chances his side let slip: "We had several chances to score the second goal, and it wouldn't have been the same story. We didn't change our plans when PSG made their changes. There was already quality on the pitch."

The table

PSG's fourth straight league win lifts them to 14 points, level with Monaco and with Lille, who drew 1-1 with Brest on Saturday night. Monaco visit Lorient on Sunday. Strasbourg, beaten for a third league match in a row and for the first time at home this season, stay on seven points.

Nuno Mendes went off injured near the end with all five changes already made, leaving PSG a man short, and Akliouche is due to have scans on his left ankle after a tackle by Strasbourg's Jeyland Mitchell, three days before Barcelona visit the Parc des Princes in the Champions League.