PARIS: Ousmane Dembele scored twice in the first half as Paris St-Germain beat Saint-Etienne 2-1 on Sunday to sit seven points clear at the top of the Ligue 1 table halfway through the season.

Dembele opened the scoring with an individual effort on 13 minutes and then netted a penalty midway through the first half as PSG threatened to run riot against struggling opponents.

However a Saint-Etienne side sitting in the relegation play-off place stemmed the tide and managed to pull a goal back through a Zuriko Davitashvili freekick on 64 minutes.

PSG nevertheless held on and have won 13 and lost none of their 17 domestic league outings this season.

`I would like to congratulate Saint-Etienne because I loved the way they played, with no fear, attacking and pressing high. They were very daring and brave, said PSG coach Luis Enrique, whose team maintained their habit of being wasteful in front of goal.

His side are on course to claim an lith title in 13 years, with this victory at the Parc des Princes coming in response to nearest challengers Olympique de Marseille`s 2-1 win away at Rennes on Saturday.

PSG are building towards a crunch Champions League clash at home to Manchester City on Jan 22, and Luis Enrique rested numerous key players here.Captain Marquinhos was not involved at all, while Willian Pacho, Warren Zaire-Emery, Joao Neves, Vitinha and Desire Doue all began on the bench.

Instead there was a first start this season in defence for Lucas Hernandez, who has recovered from a knee injury, and 18-year-old prospect Senny Mayulu came into the midfield.Earlier, Le Havre lost 2-1 at home to RC Lens earlier, despite taking the lead through Andre Ayew, with debutant Goduine Koyalipou and Deiver Machado scoring for the away side.

Elsewhere, rock-bottom Montpellier had two men sent off as they went down 3-1 at home to Angers, for whom Esteban Lepaul scored twice.

A brace by Emanuel Emegha helped Strasbourg to a 2-1 win at Toulouse.-AFP