France edge tense clash with Belgium to reach Euro 2024 quarter-finals

PARIS: Ousmane Dembele scored a hat-trick for the second time in four days as Paris Saint-Germain hammered Brest 5-2 on Saturday in a dress rehearsal of the upcoming Champions League clash between the two sides.
Dembele followed up his three-goal haul in Wednesday’s 4-1 win at VfB Stuttgart which saw PSG secure a place in the knockout phase play-offs of Europe’s elite club competition.
The France winger opened the scoring in the first half, and netted two more after Romain Del Castillo had briefly brought Brest level.
Ludovic Ajorque pulled another one back for the home side to set up a grandstand finale, but substitute Goncalo Ramos wrapped up the win for PSG with a late double.
Luis Enrique’s side are still unbeaten domestically this season and now sit 13 points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table.
Marseille, who are second, can narrow that gap a little when they host Lyon on Sunday, but PSG are cruising to their 11th French league title in 13 years.
Dembele, meanwhile, is loving playing in a central attacking role rather than his traditional position wide on the right.
He has now scored 14 goals in his last nine games in all competitions, and is Ligue 1’s leading marksman with 14 for the season.
“I am well positioned in the number nine role. I owe it to myself to score goals,” Dembele told broadcaster beIN Sports.
“It was important to win today to keep our good run going and now we will see what happens in the Champions League.”
PSG’s record against domestic opponents this season means Brest will surely be dreading having to face Luis Enrique’s side again over two legs in the Champions League.
The teams will meet in the first leg on February 11 in Guingamp, where Brest are having to host Champions League games this season as their own Stade Francis-Le Ble does not meet UEFA requirements.
They were in their usual home stadium for this game, but they could not stop PSG making it 14 games unbeaten in all competitions.
Bradley Barcola raced onto a through ball before squaring for Dembele to open the scoring just before the half-hour mark.
Brest, who lost 3-0 against Real Madrid in midweek, came out fighting after the break and drew level five minutes into the second half thanks to a lovely low strike by Del Castillo from the edge of the box.
However, the visitors were back ahead before the hour mark as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was denied in the box but the ball broke for Dembele to score.
He then completed his hat-trick soon after, having been picked out by a superb Lee Kang-in pass.
Ajorque’s terrific hit made it 3-2, but Ramos came on for Dembele and made it 4-2 on 89 minutes at the end of a counterattack led by Desire Doue, who had replaced Kvaratskhelia.
Ramos, the Portugal striker, then scored again deep in injury time, his eighth goal of the season coming as he tried to set up a teammate but saw the ball break back to him.
Brest are eighth, four points outside the European places for next season.
Monaco play Auxerre and Lille host Saint-Etienne in Saturday’s other matches.

BERLIN: Bayern Munich stretched their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to nine points on Saturday with an extraordinary 4-3 victory over Holstein Kiel.
Bayern led 4-0 as Harry Kane scored twice, but Finn Porath replied for Kiel before Steven Skrzybski’s stoppage-time double threatened to steal an unlikely point.
The full-time whistle was met with relief around the Allianz Arena.
“None of us are happy that we won 4-3 here,” Jamal Musiala, scorer of Bayern’s first goal, told Sky Sport. “We have to have the mentality to work for 90 minutes and avoid conceding goals.”
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany was also irritated with the manner in which his team ended the game.
“It was a pretty complete game until the 80th minute. But we also played against a team that was fighting for every moment,” Kompany told reporters.
“I thought we started the second half really well, but in terms of how we finished the game, that’s something we’ll have to review with the players.”
With Bayern’s closest title rivals, Bayer Leverkusen, hosting Hoffenheim on Sunday, Kompany’s side took their chance to widen the gap between them and the champions.
The Bavarians went ahead in the 19th minute when Musiala finished a beautiful team goal that involved a quick interchange of passes between Joshua Kimmich, Michael Olize and then Musiala, who steered in his 10th league goal of the season.
Kiel had almost made it to half-time just a goal behind but with less than a minute of stoppage time to go, Bayern struck a killer blow.
Kingsley Coman beat his man on the left and lofted a cross onto the head of Kane, who couldn’t miss from close range. Kane scored another in the first minute of the second half, heading home Raphael Guerreiro’s pinpoint cross.
It was Kane’s 55th league goal in 50 appearances, another Bundesliga goalscoring record for the England captain.
“To have 55 in 50 is obviously a proud feeling but as always with me it’s about the next 50 games and seeing how many more I can get,” said Kane.
Serge Gnabry joined the party with a fine goal, bringing a high ball under his spell with his right foot and volleying in with his left.
Kiel struck back with a beautifully-executed strike by Porath which seemed little more than a consolation, even after the fourth official indicated five additional minutes.
Skrzybski’s late brace nearly embarrassed Bayern but the hosts limped over the line as wounded victors.
Borussia Dortmund picked up a slim 2-1 victory at struggling Heidenheim in their final game before Niko Kovac takes charge, following the recent sacking of coach Nuri Sahin.
Dortmund went in front as Heidenheim couldn’t clear a corner and Serhou Guirassy scored from close range.
It was the Guinean striker’s fifth goal in his last four games and followed a double in the Champions League in midweek against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Heidenheim came into the contest without a win in their previous 14 league games and occupying the relegation play-off position.
The game remained tight until the hour when Ramy Bensebaini drilled a low cross in from the left and substitute Max Beier made a difficult finish look easy.
Dortmund became their own worst enemies, conceding 18 seconds after the restart as Mathias Honsak cut their lead in half.
But Dortmund held firm and weathered some late pressure to pick up a first league win since December 22, snapping a four-game winless streak in the Bundesliga.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Germany international Tim Kleindienst scored a late winner for Borussia Moenchengladbach in a 2-1 victory at Stuttgart.
Gladbach led when Nathan N’Goumou rifled into the roof of the net but a Nico Elvedi own goal soon after the break levelled the contest.
But a slick Gladbach counter-attack saw Lukas Ullrich pick out Kleindienst, who tapped in the winner.
Freiburg picked up a 1-0 win at bottom-placed Bochum, with Kiliann Sildillia nodding in his first Bundesliga goal.
St. Pauli were denied victory when Augsburg teenager Mert Komur struck late to ensure a 1-1 draw.
RB Leipzig moved back into the top four despite being held 0-0 at struggling Union Berlin.