Paris win their 14th Coupe de France!
Paris Saint-Germain were victorious in the final of the 101st edition of the Coupe de France, winning their 14th title in the process (0-2). Here's how it went down!
It was a high level final that awaited Paris Saint-Germain to try and add to one of the club's best periods in history. As defending champions the club from the capital intended to retain the Coupe de France that they are so fond of.
The Parisians were facing a Monaco team that have been on great form in 2021 and knew that they would need to be at their best in all departments. Offensively they needed to make sure they had territory and defensively they also needed to subdue the Monaco attack.
As the leaders they Marquinhos and Keylor set the tone by giving nothing away to the opponents. And just two minutes after an impressive tackle from the Costa Rica international on Volland it was the unstoppable Kylian Mbappé who instigated the breakthrough at the other end. After winning the ball high up the field, he played a lovely ball to Mauro Icardi, who scored the opener by knocking the ball into the empty net (0-1, 19'). It was the Argentine's fifth goal in four Coupe de France games this season.
Monaco then upped the tempo to try and get level as they forced the Rouge et Bleu deeper. But the Parisians were patient and fought hard to end the first period with a narrow lead. The first half of the mission was accomplished.
The second half of that mission was clear: get back on the front foot to try and double the lead and give themselves some breathing room. It was tough though as Niko Kovac's men had to push on to try and grab the equaliser. But the Parisians' didn't drop off as shown by Angel Di Maria, who won no fewer than 11 balls back. And as the club from the Principality got closer to Keylor Navas' goal, he was decisive on his line before being saved by the crossbar (67').
Having already recorded an assist, it was written in the stars that Kylian Mbappé would turn scorer and release the pressure on his side. After an ambitious lob attempt from distance the n°7 finally got his goal with a little chip after a perfectly timed ball from Angel Di Maria (0-2, 80'). And it was well deserved for our Parisians, who were put under pressure but didn't give up and then pushed on again in the second half!
In their seventh consecutive final Paris Saint-Germain retained their title after a hard-fought encounter to win their 14th Coupe de France trophy. The most of any clubs! The oldest competition will always be kind to the Ville Lumière. There is now just one more game in Ligue 1 in Brest to end this marathon of a season...