PSG vs. Lille: Winners and Losers from French League Cup Final

Paris Saint-Germain are Coupe de la Ligue champions for the third consecutive time after a 2-1 win over Lille OSC at Stade de France on Saturday sealed a sixth title for the all-time record holders.

Laurent Blanc’s men were not at their best in the French capital but ultimately did not have to be as they received helping hands in both goals.

Javier Pastore’s volleyed effort on 40 minutes opened the scoring for Les Parisiens but replays showed that Layvin Kurzawa was lurking behind LOSC goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and arguably interfering with play.

The Argentina international’s goal stood, though, and it took a sweetly struck Djibril Sidibe free-kick—after an Adrien Rabiot foul—for Frederic Antonetti’s men to pull level.

PSG’s young Frenchman picked up his second yellow card and was dismissed 23 minutes later, receiving his marching orders against Lille for the second time this season.

Six minutes after Rabiot’s departure though, Enyeama and Ibrahim Amadou combined to gift Angel Di Maria the simplest of winning goals.

Les Dogues were unable to find another equaliser, and Les Parisiens held on for a third straight Coupe de la Ligue crown.

Shortly after the match, PSG coach Blanc revealed to the club's official website that he was most pleased by his players' collective desire to win, especially when down to 10 men.

There is pressure on us for every game, but it’s the same for Lille and this was a final. My players, even with ten against 11, showed they wanted to win. We have to finish the Ligue 1 season and then there’s the Coupe de France final. A lot of people struggle to understand that just because you don’t reach one of your objectives, your season isn’t over. Now we want to finish on a high note. I hope the players will stay motivated and focused for another few weeks yet.

Here are some winners and losers from PSG's 2-1 win over Lille.

After the injury torment he has suffered this season, few will begrudge the Argentina international his opening goal.

Although Kurzawa’s role in Pastore’s goal should have been taken into account, it was a good strike by the South American and might have beaten Enyeama’s late dive anyway.

Otherwise, it was an impressive performance from the 26-year-old, considering it was his first start in over a month.

Despite a number of important early saves, the former Nigeria international must be considered culpable for at least part of Di Maria’s winning goal.

Enyeama inexplicably came out of his goal to try to win a ball that he was never realistically going to reach.

The 33-year-old has been fantastic for Lille so far this season, but the African shot-stopper picked the biggest game of Les Dogues’ campaign to make a rare error.

Enyeama can also be considered unlucky because of the role that Kurzawa played in distracting him for Pastore's opener.

After taking a heavy knock early on, the Frenchman recovered and put in a solid performance that was capped with a sweetly struck free-kick.

Four minutes into the second half, Rabiot was booked for a foul on the edge of the PSG box, and Sidibe stepped up and curled the ball past a motionless Salvatore Sirigu.

The 23-year-old rarely put a foot wrong and can feel aggrieved that he and his team-mates were not able to at least force extra time.

For the second time this season, the France under-21 international was sent off for two yellow cards against Lille.

Like in the 1-0 win away at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in the opening match of the Ligue 1 campaign, Rabiot’s dismissal was unsurprising.

The 21-year-old put in a number of reckless tackles and was seemingly asking for bookings from kick-off.

Under pressure since PSG’s UEFA Champions League exit to Manchester City, Le President needs to repeat last season’s domestic clean sweep if he is to be confident of keeping his job as coach this summer.

Even winning the Coupe de France against bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille might not be enough to ensure that Blanc remains Les Parisiens’ chief tactician next campaign, so it was absolutely imperative that the Frenchman got his starting XI right at Stade de France.

The 50-year-old arguably did that, electing to play Kurzawa over the ageing Maxwell and the jet-heeled Lucas Moura ahead of the more defensive Edinson Cavani.

Although PSG were fortuitous in their win, Blanc’s changes were bold by his standards, and he reaped the rewards. If only he did that at Etihad Stadium last week.

After seeing PSG go down to 10 men with the dismissal of Rabiot, Lille’s French tactician should have acted to capitalise on the momentum that his team were enjoying at the moment of the red-card decision.

Antonetti failed to make an attacking change before Enyeama and Amadou combined to gift Les Parisiens their winner, so by the time Rony Lopes came on for captain Rio Mavuba, it was a minute too late for Les Dogues.