Coupe De France Final 2016: Score, Reaction from PSG vs. Marseille
Zlatan Ibrahimovic added yet another trophy to his collection on Saturday, winning the Coupe de France with Paris Saint-Germain for the second time in his career. The Swede scored twice in the win, as PSG beat Olympique de Marseille 4-2 at the Stade de France in Paris in his final match for the club.
Blaise Matuidi gave the defending champions an early lead, but Florian Thauvin equalised almost immediately. Marseille matched PSG's intensity in the first half, but the favourites showed their class after the break.
Ibrahimovic scored a penalty early, and Edinson Cavani added a third goal to all but end the match as a contest. Two late goals from Ibrahimovic and Michy Batshuayi put the final score on the board.
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As shared by PSG's official Twitter account, there was no place in the squad for Javier Pastore and Thiago Motta:
Les Parisiens locked up the Ligue 1 title a long time ago and had the opportunity to rest several key starters for this match, and it showed right away. Angel Di Maria fired a perfect cross into the box after just two minutes, and Matuidi was there to hand his side the lead.
French Football Weekly feared Marseille were in trouble:
But Les Olympiens responded well to the early setback, and their tremendous pace out wide troubled PSG's full-backs throughout the first half. Mauricio Isla found plenty of space to work with, and with his first good cross, he delivered the assist that allowed Thauvin to pull his team level.
His deflected shot caught goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu by surprise, although the Italian perhaps should have done better, per Bleacher Report's Jonathan Johnson:
The fast start to the match continued, with Marseille stopper Steve Mandanda forced to make a save to deny Di Maria from close range. On the other side of the pitch, Thauvin found some space behind the defence, but his lob fell short, and Sirigu easily gathered.
The winger then fired a shot well over Sirigu's goal, which was another warning sign for PSG's defence. Les Parisiens played fairly high up the pitch and kept getting caught by Marseille's raw pace, and French Football Weekly noticed the squad didn't look as dominant as they usually do:
The fast pace of the match finally dropped midway through the half, which suited PSG. But Thauvin remained a constant threat, sending a delightful cross to Steven Fletcher, who couldn't guide his shot past Sirigu.
Cavani took too long to get a shot off from a promising position, allowing the defence to close him down, before Ibrahimovic saw a shot blocked on the line by Thauvin. Johnson took a look at the replay and noticed Les Olympiens got lucky during the sequence:
Ibrahimovic tested Mandanda again with a free-kick, although he needed three attempts before he could power the ball through a wall of players. The Swede didn't enjoy a productive first half, and neither did Batshuayi, whose first shot flew wide of the mark after 41 minutes.
PSG started the second half similar to the first, and once again, it yielded results almost immediately. Nicolas N'Koulou brought down Matuidi inside the box, and Ibrahimovic calmly converted the penalty, scoring in his last match for the club.
Football commentator Fabien Leveque shared footage of the goal:
Fletcher should have drawn Marseille level once again after wonderful work from Thauvin, but he sliced his shot wide of the mark from close range.
Marseille went hunting for an equaliser, but that opened the door for PSG to counter. A quick move saw Adrien Rabiot and Di Maria combine to get the ball to Ibrahimovic, who laid it off to Cavani for the easy goal.
Cavani's strike effectively killed Marseille's spirit, although substitute Remy Cabella missed a glorious chance to reduce the gap to a single goal after 65 minutes.
Ibrahimovic wanted a second penalty after the striker went down inside the box under pressure from Mandanda, but replays showed the goalkeeper made a play for the ball, and the official refused to point to the spot.
The 34-year-old didn't let the decision mess with his concentration, however, as he scored a simple second goal after a great pass from Matuidi.
There was still time for the Belgium international Batshuayi to get his name on the board as well, as he tapped home from close range after Sirigu punched a shot into this path.
Post-Match Reaction
As shared by French Football Weekly, Mandanda couldn't hide his disappointment and admitted he may have played his final match for Marseille:
Ibrahimovic signed off with a simple message, per Get French Football News:
The win means PSG have now won the French domestic triple in consecutive years, but it also marks the end of an era. Les Parisiens will have to retool during the summer, or their unprecedented domination of French football may come to an end in 2017.
