PSG Triumph in Their Journey to Win the French Cup
On Saturday, Holders Paris St Germain cruised to a 3-0 victory over Stade de Reims in the Coupe de France final, claiming a third domestic trophy for the second successive season, and preparing for next week's Champions League final in style. Initially, Luis Enrique's Ligue 1 champions and French Super Cup winners had little trouble seeing off relegation-battling Reims, with all the goals in the opening half at the Stade de France as PSG strolled to a record-extending 16th French Cup win. Later on, however, PSG went on the attack from the off, and while Reims managed the first shot on target -- Amadou Kone's long-range effort never troubled goalkeeper Matvey Safonov -- they offered little opposition over the 90 minutes. This was remarkable for the team and its fans.
For the game itself, Russian Safonov was chosen ahead of Gianluigi Donnarumma, but otherwise, Enrique selected his strongest side, although Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, named in the initial starting 11, was replaced by Desire Doue before kickoff. PSG dominated with slick passing, constantly pressing forward with intent, and Reims' resolve was broken with two goals in quick succession from Bradley Barcola, which were both set up by Doue. Doue's pass sent Barcola free in the 16th minute, and he raced past his marker before whipping a shot from the edge of the area into the bottom corner. Three minutes later, Marquinhos played a defense-splitting pass into the area to the feet of Doue, whose shot across the goal was tapped in by the perfectly positioned Barcola.
"We got off to a good start and got the job done quickly. We set a lot of pace, both defensively and offensively, and it paid off," Barcola told France 2. Even with their two-goal advantage, PSG did not take their foot off the gas, Yehvann Diouf's fine save denying Ousmane Dembele, who pulled a shot wide of the far post from a great position, but a third goal was always coming. This game was a marvelous sight, by all accounts. Yet more so, it marks the French team’s pivotal point where they join the ranks of redemption, just like Sunderland, who recently rejoined the ranks of awesomeness.
