Ousmane Dembélé has started the 2024-25 season in outstanding form, with three goals and two assists in just four Ligue 1 games. However, the 27-year-old winger had a challenging night in Paris Saint-Germain’s opening Matchday 1 contest against Girona FC.
Dembélé had eight total shits, with two going on target and one hitting the woodwork. Moreover, the Frenchman had one big chances missed in the contest as the Parisians overall had a hard time finishing.
The former FC Barcelona player also had a head-scratching moment during the match. Dembélé had the goalkeeper one-on-one with a Girona defender trailing him and an unmarked Bradley Barcola to his left.
Rather than passing it to Barcola, Dembélé opted to keep the ball to try and score himself. The Girona defender would close the space between himself and Dembélé to take away a shot opportunity and, more importantly, a scoring chance.
Ousmane Dembélé frustrates Samir Nasri
Nonetheless, the forward did have three key passes in the contest, so there were moments of brilliance that shouldn’t be overshadowed by his lack of finishing. Still, PSG narrowly secured the win thanks to an error from Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
✅ Parisian victory at the Parc! 🔴🔵#PSGGIR I #UCL pic.twitter.com/ja6m8Vcmes
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) September 18, 2024
Following the match, Canal+ pundit Samir Nasri voiced his frustration with the player’s lack of finishing. The former player notes that it’s a problem he didn’t solve at Barcelona and has carried over to his time in the French capital.
“He really needs to improve his finishing,” Nasri said (h/t Le10Sport). “It’s been an ongoing issue for years. He has everything else—he’s fast, skillful, and has all the right qualities. If he could score more goals, he’d be a different kind of player, like Mbappé. But he’s not there yet, and he’s already 28, so time is running out.”
