Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 St-Etienne: 5 Talking Points as Neymar takes centre stage | Coupe de France 2019-20
After a four-month hiatus, competitive football belatedly returned to France, with Paris Saint-Germain and Saint-Etienne squaring up in the final of the Coupe de France in front of a handful of spectators.
While the rest of mainstream Europe had seen a piled-up fixture list played out over the last one month, French teams had to contend themselves with playing friendly fixtures in that period due to the suspension of Ligue 1 in April.
Owing to the fact that it was their first competitive game back, the tempo was understandably low, with both sets of players looking short of full fitness.
The first chance of the match fell to St-Etienne, but Denis Bouanga could only watch on as his well-taken shot rattled the post. This helped spark PSG into life, with Neymar breaking the deadlock early in the first half.
The Brazilian reacted quickest to the parry from Jessy Moulin, who had saved Kylian Mbappe's goal-bound shot.
It was an even game for the rest of the first half, with both sides fashioning good chances. PSG, however, lost two players to injury before the interval. Thilo Kehrer was replaced by Colin Dagba in the 20th minute, while Kylian Mbappe was also withdrawn after being brought down cynically by Loic Perin the 27th minute.
The latter's injury sparked an ugly melee on the field, with a scuffle ensuing due to the horrendous nature of the challenge. Perin was deservedly shown his marching orders when his initial yellow card was changed to a red card after consultations with VAR.
Neither side could get on the scoresheet again and PSG ultimately did enough for the win. Here, we shall be having a rundown of five talking points from the fixture.
#5 PSG reinforce domestic superiority
While the decision to prematurely end the French Ligue 1 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic might not have sat well with many, the points gap between PSG and the rest of the pack meant that their status as champions-in-waiting was undebatable.
Having won the league on a points-per-game basis, the Parisians had an opportunity to do the double with victory in this game. It was an opportunity they grabbed, with their 13th Cup victory ensuring they got their hands back on the Coupe de France after shockingly losing to Rennes in the final last year.
This victory would give Thomas Tuchel's men confidence heading into the Coupe de la Ligue final against Lyon next Friday, where they could make it a domestic treble.
#4 10-man Saint-Etienne hold their own against superior opposition
Coming into this fixture, PSG were overwhelming favourites to triumph in the clash and the pre-match odds given by bookmakers showed just how much of an outsider St-Etienne were.
However, Les Verts proved their mettle against the French superpower and held their own to prevent a scandalous defeat even when they were reduced to ten men.