Lorient vs. PSG: Winners and Losers from French Cup
It was far from convincing, but on Tuesday night, Paris Saint-Germain booked their place in the Coupe de France final with a 1-0 win over FC Lorient at the Stade du Moustoir.
The game was drab, there was a severe lack of chances from both sides, but the Parisians are still on course for a fourth domestic trophy after Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 75th superb solo goal.
"Les parisiens s'imposent et se qualifient pour la finale de la coupe de France !!!! #FCLPSG pic.twitter.com/D1Ewp6DJRG
— PSG Officiel (@PSG_inside) April 19, 2016"
Manager Laurent Blanc picked a near-full-strength side for the cup game, which may have been slightly surprising with the Coupe de la Ligue final at the Stade de France to follow on Saturday against Lille. However, after being dumped out of the Champions League by Manchester City, there is a certain amount of pressure on the Ligue 1 champions to complete the quadruple.
Sylvain Ripoll’s side will leave the game thinking “what if” after it appeared that Marquinhos pulled left-back Raphael Guerreiro down inside the box by in the first half. The home side should probably have had a penalty, but referee Frank Schneider waved play on.
Apart from that, Les Merlus failed to trouble PSG’s back line. Even though the away side were poor, it never looked like they had to push themselves out of fourth gear.
Salvatore Sirigu made a good double save after Benjamin Moukandjo was played through on goal, but that was the only time the Italian shot-stopper was called into action.
Here are the winners and losers from PSG’s 1-0 Coupe de France win over Lorient.
Winner: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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When they needed him, the Swede delivered—but don’t mention the Champions League game with Manchester City.
It looked like the game was going to dribble into extra time, but the 34-year-old collected a forward pass from substitute Javier Pastore and galloped forward to fire PSG into the final.
"haaaaaa trop tard pic.twitter.com/MnZfxA1ORh
— philippe (@philousports) April 19, 2016"
He showed lovely footwork to take the ball past the Lorient defence, before he placed it beyond Benjamin Lecomte with the outside of his right foot. The ‘keeper should have done better, but it was a great moment of skill from the forward.
Loser: Marquinhos
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It wasn’t the best of nights for the young Brazilian defender. Although the defence was largely untroubled, it was Thiago Silva who did most of the evening’s heavy lifting.
Replays showed that the 21-year-old should have been penalised in the first half. He quite clearly brought Raphael Guerreiro down in the penalty area with his trailing leg. It was a clumsy challenge and one he was lucky to get away with.
"bah perso j'arrive pas a voir si il le touche pic.twitter.com/0Pdv0DMdqe
— philippe (@philousports) April 19, 2016"
If he is trying to mount a case for playing ahead of David Luiz at any point this season, or next, that didn't do him any favours.
Winner: Walid Mesloub
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If anyone deserved praise for the way the home side kept the game so tight on Tuesday, it’s the man at the heart of the Lorient midfield. Walid Mesloub was excellent—and that was before he slipped Moukandjo through for their best chance of the game.
He was commanding, he used the ball well and he never looked flustered playing against the best team in the country.
Mesloub has been a late-bloomer. Now 30 years old, he is the lynchpin in the FCL midfield. According to WhoScored, no one makes more passes than the Algerian international, and he averages the most key passes per game.
He will be upset that Moukandjo couldn’t do more with his excellent pass on Tuesday night, but he should be delighted with his own performance.
Loser: Edinson Cavani
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After scoring a tap-in against Caen, you would have expected more from the Uruguayan striker on Tuesday. It was another limp, lifeless performance. Especially for someone who knows his future is at stake.
With the imminent departure of Ibrahimovic in the summer, this could be Cavani’s team next season—but he is doing nothing to suggest he wants or deserves the opportunity.
He will now likely go on to score a hat-trick in Saturday’s Coupe de la Ligue final.
