PARIS (AP) — Ousmane Dembélé scored a second straight hat trick as runaway Ligue 1 leader Paris Saint-Germain won at Brest 5-2 to move 13 points ahead of Marseille on Saturday.
Dembélé is enjoying the best scoring campaign of his career and followed up his treble against Stuttgart in the Champions League on Wednesday.
PSG broke the deadlock when speedy left winger Bradley Barcola got behind the defense and gave Dembélé an easy finish after 29 minutes.
PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was beaten by midfielder Romain Del Castillo's curling strike in the 50th as PSG failed to deal with a high ball.
Brest also made a mess of a long ball six minutes later and it found Dembélé, who tucked it away from the edge of the penalty area. He then swept in a clever pass from Lee Kang-in to move onto 14 league goals and 19 overall this season.
But PSG still concedes too easily and struggles under high balls. Brest pulled a goal back in the 71st through imposing striker Ludovic Ajorque, who again got the better of defender Willian Pacho.
Ajorque will be Brest's dangerman when the sides meet again this month in the Champions League playoffs to reach the round of 16.
Striker Gonçalo Ramos scored twice late on as PSG punished Brest with quick breaks.
Clinical Biereth helps Monaco win
New signing Mika Biereth grabbed a hat trick in eight second-half minutes as Monaco beat Auxerre 4-2 to hold onto third place.
Monaco led in the 35th through left back Thilo Kehrer's fine finish into the top left corner, but Auxerre's equalizer was even better as defender Sinaly Diomandé drove an unstoppable shot into the top right.
Brazilian center back Jubal converted a penalty deep into first-half stoppage time after Monaco captain Denis Zakaria was punished for tugging a shirt.
Biereth turned the game on its head.
He equalized in the 57th with a cool finish from Breel Embolo's pass, and his second in the 63rd was even better as he deftly volleyed a dipping cross from Brazilian Caio Henrique into the opposite corner.
Auxerre's defense couldn't pick the 21-year-old Danish striker's clever runs and he finished off another move two minutes later.
The win moved Monaco level on points with second-placed Marseille, which is ahead on goal difference.
Later Saturday, Lille hosted struggling Saint-Etienne.
Marseille needed to beat Lyon at home on Sunday to stay 10 points behind PSG.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press
