Paris don't falter against SCO to clinch 13th league title!

A few days after reaching the Coupe de France final after beating Dunkerque 2-4, Paris Saint-Germain were back on the pitch, this time at the Parc des Princes for Ligue 1 matchday 28 against Angers. Luis Enrique fielded a central defensive pairing of captain Marquinhos and Willian Pacho in front of Gianluigi Donnarumma in a bid to clinch another French title this evening. At full-back, Achraf Hakimi started on the right, with Lucas Hernandez on the opposite flank. In midfield, Vitinha played the sentinel role, with Warren Zaïre-Emery and Fabian Ruiz supporting him. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Désiré Doué started on the wings, supporting Gonçalo Ramos who played in the middle of the attack.

Under a brilliant blue sky, the visitors kicked off a match whose pace was immediately dictated by the Parisians. Three weeks after their victory in the Classique, the Rouge et Bleu returned to their home ground with a fierce desire to win again. In a one-way start to the game, the capital club took advantage of the good understanding between Achraf Hakimi and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to create danger from the right (5' and 7'). And when Angers tried to get their heads above water by sending Estéban Lepaul in behind, it was Willian Pacho who dashed the Noir et Blanc's hopes by getting a shoulder in to win the ball back (12'). Ten minutes later, it was the Rouge et Bleu again on the attack, but Yahia Fofana was not caught off guard by Hakimi's vicious effort (22').

After a well-controlled first half-hour, Paris dominated the ball like never before (85% possession) against the Scoïstes, who were playing extremely deep and were clearly intent on closing down access to their goal. The Parisians were forced to double down on their creativity, with Warren Zaïre-Emery crossing for Gonçalo Ramos to head home, but the latter was unable to keep his effort down (31'). Moments later, it was Vitinha's turn to try his luck from twenty yards, forcing the SCO keeper to intervene with a fingertip save (35'). Faced with a tightly-packed defence, the club from the capital continued to create chances without success before the break.

In the second half, Angers began to attack more and Lepaul thought he had opened the scoring for his side, only to see his goal immediately disallowed for offside (51'). For one of the first times in the game, the visitors were finding their flow, and Luis Enrique's men needed no more than that to crack down a few minutes later, when Kvaratskhelia made light work of Abdoulaye Bamba before setting up Désiré Doué, who finished with a volley at the far post (1-0, 55')! The patient Rouge et Bleu were rewarded for their clear dominance, and even came close to doubling their lead on the hour mark through Fabian Ruiz, who put together a classy move before forcing a save from Yahia Fofana (60').

To maintain Paris's grip on the game, Luis Enrique brought on new blood, led by Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola, who were tasked with creating space in a huddled opposition defensive third. Paris were determined to capitalise on the flashes of brilliance from their new arrivals to try and grab a second goal: Bradley Barcola found himself in the middle of the park and stared down the Angevine rearguard before sending Achraf Hakimi through on his left, only for Fofana to make another decisive save (80'). Then it was the turn of Ousmane Dembélé, who broke into the box before being stopped by Bamba's tackle (88'). Despite the prospect of victory, the capital club continued to push forward with the intention of scoring, but Fofana again denied Kvaratskhelia (90+2).

In a match in which they never wavered, Paris Saint-Germain claimed their second win of the week and, more importantly, their 13th French league title. But before they celebrate their second trophy of the season in style on 17th May at the Parc des Princes on the final day of the season, the Parisians return to the Porte d'Auteuil stadium next Wednesday, with a mouth-watering Champions League quarter-final first leg against Aston Villa (9pm) on the menu. For our Rouge et Bleu, the ambition is to make this season even more magical. Allez Paris!