Fabian Ruiz scored twice, Ousmane Dembele tallied a goal and an assist and Paris Saint-Germain eliminated Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappe from the FIFA Club World Cup by sailing to a 4-0 semifinal win on Wednesday.
PSG built a 3-0 lead in 24 minutes, deflating the heavily pro-Madrid crowd. Goncalo Ramos, who subbed on for Dembele early in the second half, added a goal for good measure in the 87th minute.
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Gianluigi Donnarumma parried one early shot by Mbappe and finished with two saves, but the PSG defence was otherwise unbothered en route to its fifth clean sheet in six tournament matches.
Wednesday marked Mbappe’s first time facing PSG, for which he scored 256 goals over seven years before joining Madrid a year ago. After coming on as a substitute the past two matches, Mbappe started up front alongside Gonzalo Garcia, but was held off the scoresheet.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was out of Real Madrid’s squad, reportedly due to a training injury.
PSG’s attack wasted no time, forcing Courtois to make two difficult saves during the first five minutes. But in the sixth, Dembele robbed Raul Asencio of the ball in the center of the box, tapped it away from Courtois’ diving reach and set up Ruiz for a one-timer into the back of the net.
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Dembele made Madrid pay again when he closed in on Antonio Rudiger, who proceeded to whiff on a pass attempt in the defensive half. Dembele bolted away and beat Courtois in the bottom left corner for a 2-0 lead less than nine minutes in.
After Mbappe’s third shot of the day was blocked, PSG ran out on a clinical counterattack. Achraf Hakimi sprung free down the right side on a give-and-go with Dembele, and Hakimi’s cross set up Ruiz’s second goal in the 24th minute.
Paris Saint-Germain will face Chelsea on Sunday in the final. Chelsea won the title in 2021, while PSG will try to become the first team from France to capture the trophy.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com