European football roundup: Ousmane Dembele shines as PSG ease past Montpellier; Las Palmas stun Atletico Madrid

Paris Saint-Germain moved to the top of the French league on Friday thanks to a comprehensive 3-0 win at home to Montpellier.

Lee Kang-in got the opener for the hosts after 10 minutes when he took advantage of a nice dummy from Kylian Mbappe and placed the ball into the top corner of the net.

Seventeen-year-old midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery doubled PSG’s lead 13 minutes into the second half with a fierce shot. Substitute Vitinha made it three in the 66th, just four minutes after replacing Lee.

Goncalo Ramos thought he had added a fourth with a header in stoppage time but the goal was ruled out for offside.

It was PSG’s fifth consecutive win in all competitions and moves it provisionally two points ahead of Nice, which is at home to Rennes on Sunday.

Atlético Madrid wasted its chance to go joint top of the Spanish league on Friday after a surprise 2-1 defeat at Las Palmas.

The capital side started the day in third place — three points behind Real Madrid and Girona but with a game in hand.

Having won its previous six league games, Atletico was a hot favorite to make it seven straight but second-half goals from Kirian Rodríguez and Benito Ramírez gave the home side a healthy lead.

Álvaro Morata pulled a goal back for the visitors with seven minutes remaining but it was not enough to salvage a point.

For Las Palmas the victory was its first win against Atlético this century. It had previously lost all of its last eight encounters between the sides.

The defeat was just the second all season for Diego Simeone’s side and it remains in third place.

“Our run is over, which is a shame,” Atlético keeper Jan Oblak said. “But now we need to lift our heads.”

Las Palmas moved up to ninth. It has now won four of its last five league games.

Bologna snaps Lazio’s winning streak with 1-0 victory in Serie A

Scottish midfielder Lewis Ferguson scored the only goal of the game as Bologna beat Lazio 1-0 in the Italian league on Friday.

Ferguson finished smartly a minute into the second half to halt Lazio’s three-game winning streak and lift Bologna into sixth place in Serie A, two points above Lazio in eighth.

Ferguson’s goal was his 10th in the league since signing from Aberdeen in July last year and helped Bologna extend its fine run. It has now lost only one of its last 11 league matches.

Bologna’s next game is away at Fiorentina on 12 November, while Lazio’s next league fixture is a derby against Roma the same day.

Bochum clinch first win in Bundesliga

Bochum got its first win of the German league season on Friday when two goals from Japanese midfielder Takuma Asano gave it a 2-1 victory at Darmstadt.

Asano put Bochum ahead after 25 minutes when he seized on a loose ball inside the box but Fabian Nürnberger headed an equalizer for the home side two minutes before halftime.

However, Asano rifled a low shot into the net nine minutes into the second half to secure all three points for the visitors.

Adding to Darmstadt’s misery, it had Fabian Holland sent off after 70 minutes.

The result lifts Bochum to eight points, one more than Darmstadt. Bochum is in 13th place; Darmstadt is in 15th.

It was the third loss in a row for Darmstadt and follows its 8-0 thrashing by Bayern Munich last weekend.

source:firstpost.com