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Dembélé Scores 2 and Donnarumma Injured as PSG Beats Monaco to Increase French League Lead

Paris Saint-Germain's Portuguese forward #09 Goncalo Ramos (C) celebrates scoring his team's third goal with Paris Saint-Germain's French forward #10 Ousmane Dembele (R) and Paris Saint-Germain's South Korean midfielder #19 Lee Kang-in during the French L1 football match between AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain at the Louis II Stadium (Stade Louis II) in the Principality of Monaco on December 18, 2024. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain's Portuguese forward #09 Goncalo Ramos (C) celebrates scoring his team's third goal with Paris Saint-Germain's French forward #10 Ousmane Dembele (R) and Paris Saint-Germain's South Korean midfielder #19 Lee Kang-in during the French L1 football match between AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain at the Louis II Stadium (Stade Louis II) in the Principality of Monaco on December 18, 2024. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
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Dembélé Scores 2 and Donnarumma Injured as PSG Beats Monaco to Increase French League Lead

Paris Saint-Germain's Portuguese forward #09 Goncalo Ramos (C) celebrates scoring his team's third goal with Paris Saint-Germain's French forward #10 Ousmane Dembele (R) and Paris Saint-Germain's South Korean midfielder #19 Lee Kang-in during the French L1 football match between AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain at the Louis II Stadium (Stade Louis II) in the Principality of Monaco on December 18, 2024. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain's Portuguese forward #09 Goncalo Ramos (C) celebrates scoring his team's third goal with Paris Saint-Germain's French forward #10 Ousmane Dembele (R) and Paris Saint-Germain's South Korean midfielder #19 Lee Kang-in during the French L1 football match between AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain at the Louis II Stadium (Stade Louis II) in the Principality of Monaco on December 18, 2024. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)

Runaway leader Paris Saint-Germain opened a 10-point lead at the top of the French league standings before the year-end break with a 4-2 defeat of Monaco on Wednesday in a match marred by Gianluigi Donnarumma's injury.
Ousmane Dembélé scored a brace and striker Goncalo Ramos put PSG back in the lead with seven minutes left as he headed in a corner after coming in as a substitute in the lively encounter at the Stade Louis II, The Associated Press reported.
Monaco remained in third place, level on points with second-place Marseille, which has one match in hand.
Donnarumma’s face was bloodied after being hit by an opponent’s cleat. The Italy international took the studs of Wilfried Singo’s cleat in the 17th minute. Singo, whose shot had been blocked, tried to jump over the sliding Donnarumma but instead struck his face.
Pictures showed that Donnarumma was cut below his right eye. Singo, who had already been warned, was lucky to avoid a red card.
Donnarumma was left lying on the pitch while receiving treatment. He finally stood up and walked away to be replaced by Matvey Safonov.
Désiré Doué had put PSG in front in the first half before Eliesse Ben Seghir leveled from the penalty spot after the interval and Breel Embolo gave Monaco the lead at the hour mark.
Dembélé then scored his first goal of the evening from a rebound in the 64th minute. He added more luster to PSG's win deep in stoppage time when he completed his brace.
The match was brought forward because of a scheduling conflict with the Trophée des Champions between the two clubs on Jan. 5 in Doha during the weekend that the French league resumes.

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Keys Upsets Swiatek, to Face Sabalenka in Saturday’s Final

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
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Keys Upsets Swiatek, to Face Sabalenka in Saturday’s Final

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 23, 2025 Madison Keys of the US celebrates winning her semi final match against Poland's Iga Swiatek REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

When Madison Keys finally finished off her 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) upset of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in a high-intensity, high-quality Australian Open semifinal on Thursday night, saving a match point along the way, the 29-year-old American crouched on the court and placed a hand on her white hat.

She had a hard time believing it all. The comeback. What Keys called an “extra dramatic finish.” The victory over five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, who'd been on the most dominant run at Melbourne Park in a dozen years. And now the chance to play in her second Grand Slam final, a long wait after being the 2017 US Open runner-up.

“I’m still trying to catch up to everything that’s happening,” said the 19th-seeded Keys, who will face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, for the trophy Saturday. “I felt like I was just fighting to stay in it. ... It was so up and down and so many big points."

Just to be sure, Keys asked whether Swiatek was, indeed, one point from victory. Yes, Madison, she was, while serving at 6-5, 40-30, but missed a backhand into the net, then eventually getting broken by double-faulting, sending the contest to a first-to-10, win-by-two tiebreaker.

“I felt like I blacked out there at some point,” Keys said, “and was out there running around.”

Whatever she was doing, it worked. Keys claimed more games in the semifinal than the 14 total that Swiatek dropped in her five previous matches over the past two weeks.

Sabalenka beat good friend Paula Badosa 6-4, 6-2 earlier Thursday. Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, can become the first woman since 1999 to complete a threepeat.

"If she plays like this,” the 11th-seeded Badosa said, “I mean, we can already give her the trophy.”

Keys might have something to say about that.

Still, Sabalenka won her first major trophy at Melbourne Park in 2023, and she since has added two more — in Australia a year ago and at the US Open last September.
The last woman to reach three finals in a row at the year’s first Grand Slam tournament was Serena Williams, who won two from 2015-17. Martina Hingis was the most recent woman with a threepeat, doing it from 1997-1999.
“I have goosebumps. I’m so proud of myself,” Sabalenka said.
Swiatek had not lost a single service game since the first round, but was broken three times by Keys in the first set alone and eight times in all.
That included each of Swiatek’s first two times serving, making clear right from the get-go this would not be her usual sort of day. And while Swiatek did eke out the opening set, she was overwhelmed in the second, trailing 5-0 before getting a game.
This was the big-hitting Keys at her very best. She turns 30 next month and, at the suggestion of her coach, former player Bjorn Fratangelo — who also happens to be her husband — decided to try a new racket this season, an effort both to help her with generating easy power but also to relieve some strain on her right shoulder.
It’s certainly paid immediate dividends. Keys is now on an 11-match winning streak, including taking the title at a tuneup event in Adelaide.
She was good enough to get through this one, which was as tight as can be down the stretch.
“At the end, I feel like we were both kind of battling some nerves. ... It just became who can get that final point and who can be a little bit better than the other one,” Keys said. “And I’m happy it was me.”