PSG vs. Saint-Etienne: Winners and Losers from French League Cup Match

Paris Saint-Germain reached the quarter-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue (the French League Cup) with a narrow 1-0 win over AS Saint-Etienne at Parc des Princes.

Edinson Cavani’s late volley from a sumptuous Angel di Maria through ball was enough to secure Les Parisiens’ safe passage.

Speaking to PSG.fr (in French) after the final whistle, a relieved PSG coach Laurent Blanc admitted that his team had to work hard for their win. Blanc praised Les Verts for making it a real cup tie and was relieved his players did not pay the price for failing to score early on.

The French champions will now face Olympique Lyonnais at home in the last eight, as the men from the capital look to win a third consecutive title.

Here are some winners and losers from the 1-0 win over Saint-Etienne.

After a hat-trick of assists in PSG’s 5-1 thrashing of Lyon in Ligue 1 last Sunday, Angel Di Maria started the Saint-Etienne game on the bench.

The Argentina international was brought on in place of Marco Verratti after 62 minutes and changed the game with his creativity.

Di Maria immediately brought the capital club to life and it was his outstanding assist that provided Edinson Cavani with the only goal of the game.

That is four assists in his last two games for the former Manchester United man.

Although Saint-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier was a winner in many ways on the night, he was also ultimately a loser.

His depleted and inexperienced team were superb at Parc des Princes and were unlucky to not force at least extra time and a possible penalty shootout, but they were ultimately defeated.

Had the Frenchman taken a more positive approach from the beginning of the game, Les Verts might have come away from Paris with a shock win and a derby clash with Lyon in the quarter-finals.

It was not Edinson Cavani’s finest cameo appearance against Saint-Etienne, but it was ultimately the Uruguay international who made the difference.

Cavani displayed some heavy touches and missed a chance after a misunderstanding with Layvin Kurzawa, but the South American eventually did his job and scored the winning goal.

It was a nice finish too, as Cavani scored with a controlled volley from Angel Di Maria’s superlative ball over the top.

The 28-year-old now has eight Coupe de la Ligue goals to his name from seven appearances in the competition.

Starting against Saint-Etienne was a chance for Ezequiel Lavezzi to prove to manager Laurent Blanc that he merits more opportunities on the pitch over the second half of the season.

The Argentina international failed to take it—along with a number of teammates—doing little to catch the eye over an uninspiring 90 minutes.

In what may well have been Salvatore Sirigu’s farewell appearance for PSG, the Italy international performed well in goal.

The 28-year-old was calm and authoritative in everything he did and he kept a clean sheet for the second time in as many appearances across all competitions this season.

Sirigu received plenty of affection from the Parc des Princes crowd, but it remains to be seen if it is the last time he will be seen on the pitch for PSG.

It was a forgettable night for Saint-Etienne’s Neal Maupay as Christophe Galtier’s young guns struggled to test Salvatore Sirigu in the PSG goal.

Substituted after 61 uneventful minutes, the highlight of the 19-year-old’s outing was a verbal altercation with Zlatan Ibrahimovic during the first half.

Aside from that, Maupay was muted and the teenager failed to take his chance to impress Galtier.