Goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier was the hero as Paris St Germain clinched their fourth consecutive French Super Cup title, beating rivals Olympique de Marseille 4-1 in a penalty shootout after a dramatic 2-2 draw in Kuwait on Thursday.
PSG looked to be cruising to victory after an early goal from Ousmane Dembele, who had also scored the late winner in last season’s 1-0 final victory over AS Monaco in Doha.
However, Marseille stunned the French champions with two late goals to turn the game on its head. Mason Greenwood converted a penalty and a Willian Pacho own goal gave Marseille a shock lead.
But PSG refused to be beaten, launching a wave of attacks that culminated in Goncalo Ramos snatching an equaliser in the final seconds to send the contest to penalties.
Chevalier proved the decisive figure in the shootout, saving spot-kicks from Matt O’Riley and Hamed Traore.
Ramos, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, and Desire Doue all converted for PSG to seal the win.
Record 14-time winners PSG, who faced last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up Marseille after the Parisians had won both the league and the French Cup, won the competition for the 12th time in the last 13 years.
“Luck sometimes plays its part, but the most important thing is that we prepare our goalkeepers for penalties... Our keeper had a fantastic game,” PSG coach Luis Enrique told reporters.
“You don’t always have to be at your best to win. That’s what happened today; we didn’t maintain our top level for the entire match, but we won... We showed our ability to fight back, even in the final minute,” he added.
DE ZERBI ‘HEARTBROKEN’ AFTER DEFEAT
Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi expressed his disappointment.
“I’m heartbroken... We played a fantastic game but lost in the end... The first thing I told the team was that I never cry after a loss. But this match was an exception, and I cried afterwards because we put in a great performance against one of the strongest teams in Europe,” he said.
“I told our players to be proud of their performance and that they have to accept these difficult moments,” he added.
“Today we delivered one of our best performances in a while. I am extremely happy and proud of the performance... Our team deserved to win.”
The drama began early, with Chevalier forced into a seventh-minute save from a Leonardo Balerdi header before Nuno Mendes headed just wide at the other end.
Dembele broke the deadlock in the 13th minute, latching onto a pass from Vitinha before lifting a left-footed shot over the keeper and into the net.
Marseille responded, with Greenwood firing just over the bar before goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli denied Mendes.
Chevalier was called into action again to thwart an effort from Emerson in the 34th minute.
After the break, Chevalier produced a superb double save, first denying a dangerous header from Igor Paixao and then a powerful shot from Amine Gouiri less than two minutes later.
The introduction of substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 67th minute gave Marseille a boost, and they were awarded a penalty in the 74th minute when Greenwood was brought down by the keeper. The forward stepped up to level the score.
Marseille thought they had won it in the 87th minute when PSG defender Pacho inadvertently turned a cross from Traore into his own net.
However, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, a swift counter-attack led to Bradley Barcola heading a long ball into the path of Ramos, who made no mistake to send the game to penalties.
Source: Reuters
--Agencies
