A successful start to the Coupe de France for Les Parisiens!

The Coupe de France still retains its charm. That charm that sees clubs from the top-flight travel across divisions and the entirety of the country, to take on clubs from up and down the football pyramid. On Friday, it was in a special atmosphere that Paris Saint-Germain travelled to the Stade Gaston Petit to face Berrichonne de Châteauroux, who currently ply their trade in the National division. And for this previously unseen encounter, a youthful starting eleven was the order of the day. With Christophe Galtier missing several senior members of his squad, the coach took advantage of the cup match to rotate his team, and start with three youngsters from the club's youth set-up!

It had to be expected that the balance of power would never be simple in this competition. And the first half definitely proved that! 
In the first half an hour, it was our Rouge et Bleu who looked the most dangerous, inspired by the attacking trio of Soler - Sarabia - Ekitike. And after a couple of initial chances, it was the latter of the three who opened the scoring after an excellent team move! An inch-perfect ball from Ismaël Gharbi, found the forward, who beautifully finished with the outside of his boot (0-1, 13').

From then on, Les Castelroussins looked to react and even managed to get dangerously close to Keylor Navas' goal. A period of domination ensued for the home side and Berrichonne finally found the equaliser after a bit of a mix-up and a deflected effort from Ntolla (1-1, 37').

With the sides on level terms, it was the perfect moment for the 22 protagonists to show personality and commitment across the field, as an incredibly comfortable performance from Warren Zaïre-Emery in midfield and a lively outing for Gharbi demonstrated.

The visitors looked to find the back of the net to get back into the lead, but the task was far from easy against a well-organised home side. Les Rouge et Bleu eventually got a second wind and went on to secure their ticket for the next round! After Hugo Ekitike's powerful header was pushed away by the remarkable home keeper, Carlos Soler made no mistake to score his second goal for the club (1-2, 78').

This set up an ideal end to the match to allow Les Parisiens to manage the encounter, and at the same time allow Ilyes Housni to get his first taste of competitive football in the Paris shirt. The youngster was even at the heart of the final goal of the match, which Juan Bernat scored with an unstoppable strike (1-3, 91'). This is also the charm of the competition: these small side stories that make up the long history of the Coupe de France.
And as they have done every year for more than three decades, Paris Saint-Germain have their name in the draw for the Round of 32! Mission accomplished.