Another hat trick for Dembélé as Ligue 1 leader PSG wins at Brest

PARIS — Ousmane Dembélé scored a second straight hat trick as runaway Ligue 1 leader Paris Saint-Germain won at Brest 5-2 to move 13 points ahead of Marseille on Saturday.

Dembélé is enjoying the best scoring campaign of his career and followed up his treble against Stuttgart in the Champions League on Wednesday.

PSG broke the deadlock when speedy left winger Bradley Barcola got behind the defense and gave Dembélé an easy finish after 29 minutes.

Brest hit back and PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made an excellent low save from Romain Faivre's low shot. Donnarumma was beaten by midfielder Romain Del Castillo's curling strike in the 50th as PSG failed to deal with a high ball, which fell to Del Castillo.

Brest also made a mess of a long ball six minutes later and it found Dembélé, who tucked it away from the edge of the penalty area. He then swept in a clever pass from Lee Kang-in to move onto 14 league goals and 19 overall this season.

But PSG still concedes too easily and struggles under high balls. Brest pulled a goal back in the 71st through imposing striker Ludovic Ajorque, who again got the better of defender Willian Pacho.

Ajorque will be Brest's dangerman when the sides meet again this month in the Champions League playoffs to reach the round of 16.

Striker Gonçalo Ramos scored twice late on as PSG punished Brest with quick breaks.

Later Saturday, third-placed Monaco hosted Auxerre and Lille faced struggling Saint-Etienne.

Second-placed Marseille needed to beat Lyon at home on Sunday to stay 10 points behind PSG.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer