French media reported last week that the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner rejected a new contract offer.
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His coach Luis Enrique described the speculation as fake news and Dembélé’s concentration was clear in a match between two of the league’s four best.
His shot in the 12th minute from more than 20 yards gave the Lille goalkeeper no chance and his second 18 minutes into the second half was a reminder of why he won that Ballon d’Or.
With four defenders in front of him, Dembélé somehow found space to clear the most audacious shot that deceived goalkeeper Berke Ozer and fell just under the crossbar.
Substitute Bradley Barcola, another whose future has been the subject of speculation, completed the scoring in stoppage time when he pounced on the slack defense and scored the third.
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The victory calmed the defending champion’s nerves just days after city rival Paris FC eliminated them from the French Cup.
Friday’s victory put PSG back at the top of the league standings, two points ahead of Lens, who have a game in hand on Saturday against second-last Auxerre.
Lille remained fourth, 10 points behind.
Monaco loses again
Monaco suffered its seventh defeat in eight games after another poor performance, this time at home to Lorient 3-1.
Lorient’s Bamba Dieng had a goal disallowed in the first half, but got one that counted midway through the second half. The Senegalese striker took advantage of a mistake by the Monaco defense.
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Ansu Fati equalized eight minutes later, but goals from Jean-Victor Makengo in the 85th minute and Dermane Karim three minutes from time gave Lorient the three points and extended their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions.
Lorient was one point behind ninth-place Monaco.
It was another unhappy start to the weekend for Monaco, whose record in Friday night’s matches fell to two wins, five draws and nine losses.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer