Coupe de France final

In a thoroughly stunning match, Olympique Lyonnais narrowly defeated Paris Saint-Germain 1 - 0 on a Sidney Govou strike in extra-time. For the majority of the match, PSG controlled the match but were continuously stymied by by Lyon goalkeeper, man-of-the-match Gregory Coupet. This was also the final match wearing the PSG jersey for Pedro Pauleta ~

Ligue 1 Orange finale

It's a peculiar thing to start the review of the final day of the season in which the title was won by Lyon to note first, thankfully PSG was saved from relegation but such is the case. With PSG's noble victory 2-1 over Sochaux on the strength of Amare Diané two goals and Bordeaux and Lens 2-2 draw, PSG was saved.















Of course the real story was Lyon's victory which secured their seventh consecutive Ligue 1 title. Their 3-1 victory over Auxerre was never in-doubt as only a minute into the match Karim Benzema scored and the second was added by Fred ten minutes later.

On the opposite end of the table, Lens which had flown so high last year and bordered upon a Champions League spot is sent down to Ligue 2 with Strasbourg and Metz. It is a painful taste for Lens and hopefully a short-lived exodus. Equally said, PSG and Toulouse which look condemned pulled-off the Ligue 1 "great escape". From Ligue 2, Le Havre, Nantes and possibly the best excuse for a road-trip next season Grenoble.

In another odd side-story with Nancy seemingly having locked up third place and the final Champions League spot, they lost to Rennes 3-2 while Olympique Marseille beat Strasbourg 4-3 on two Djibril Cisse goals as well as one each by Sami Nasir and Mamadou Niang. With this swing, Marseille which seemed to have dropped any chance of the Champions League next season with squandered points finds itself in third place and in the Champions League. Allez l'OM Allez!

As an aside, Marseille, which is owned by Robert Louis-Dreyfus the CEO of Adidas-Salomon, unveiled it's kit for next season using a argyle-vest pattern a hint of things to come from Adidas. The jersey is available online now -
























































































Final table ~

	GP	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals	Against	Total
Olympique Lyonnais	38	24	7	7	74	37	79
FC Girondins de Bordeaux	38	22	9	7	65	38	75
Olympique Marseille	38	17	11	10	58	45	62
AS Nancy Lorraine	38	15	15	8	44	31	60
Saint-Étienne Loire	38	16	10	12	47	34	58
Stade Rennais FC	38	16	10	12	47	44	58
Lille O.S.C.	38	13	18	7	45	32	57
Nice-Côte d'Azur	38	13	16	9	35	30	55
Le Mans	38	14	11	13	46	49	53
Lorient	38	12	16	10	32	35	52
SM Caen	38	13	12	13	48	53	51
AS Monaco FC	38	13	8	17	40	48	47
Valenciennes FC	38	12	9	17	42	40	45
Sochaux-Montbéliard	38	10	14	14	34	43	44
AJ Auxerre	38	12	8	18	33	52	44
Paris Saint-Germain	38	10	13	15	37	45	43
Toulouse FC	38	9	15	14	36	42	42
Racing Club de Lens	38	9	13	16	43	52	40
RC Strasbourg	38	9	8	21	34	60	35
FC Metz	38	5	9	24	28	64	24

PSG out of relegation!

In his final home match for PSG, Pedro Pauleta enjoyed a great send-off as PSG and Saint-Etienne drew to a 1-1 tie that (thankfully) sees PSG out of the relegation zone with one match left in the campaign.

PSG defeats Auxerre 3-1

The Paris Saint Germain fight to avoid relegation from Ligue 1 Orange took a strong step forward with a 3-1 victory today over Auxerre. On the heels of Amara Diané's brace and Pauleta's goal at the three minute mark, PSG held for 3-1 victory which brings them level with Lens and Toulouse, whose matches are minutes away.

Coupe de la Ligue update

LENS

PSG

16 LE CROM 3 HILTON (c) 4 COULIBALY 11 BELHADJ 15 LAURENTI 6 MANGANE 10 CARRIERE 23 KOVACEVIC 8 MAOULIDA 9 REMY 14 MONNET-PAQUET 1 LANDREAU 2 CEARA 3 SAKHO 15 CAMARA 22 ARMAND 24 BOURILLON 20 CHANTOME 23 CLEMENT 25 ROTHEN 9 PAULETA (c) 11 DIANE Substitutes 1 RUNJE 2 RAMOS 26 DEMONT 18 MONTERRUBIO 21 KEITA 28 SABLE 27 DINDANE 16 ALONZO 5 MENDY 17 MABIALA 10 SOUZA 7 LUYINDULA 14 NGOG 18 ARNAUD

Paris Saint-Germain just took the lead on a deft chip by Pedro Miguel Pauleta at the nineteenth minute.
Paris Saint-Germain 1 RC Lens 0
@ 25th minute; PSG is swarming and playing far beyond their typical performances of this year
@ 29th minute; spectacular save PSG's Landreau on a strike by Maoulida
@ the half; Paris Saint-Germain 1 RC Lens 0
second half begins
@ 47th minute: RC Lens's Mangane narrowly misses a header wide
@ 50th minute: GOAL Len's continues to attacks, Carrierre nets a goal for Lens
Paris Saint-Germain 1 RC Lens 1
- looks like two totally different teams this half. Lens attacking and PSG wilting
@ 67th minute; Monterubbio narrowly misses, striking the upright. Lens is controlling play and their speed is causing massive problems for PSG
@ 83rd minute; tremendous right-foot stop on Diane by Le Crom as he broke free
@ 88th minute; foul on PSG, Lens has a free kick from 33 meters. Monterubbio steps to take it. Falls aimlessly and is cleared.
added time
+ 1 Lens Demont narrowly misses the winning strike above the bar
+ 3 minutes PENALTY on Hilton. PSG ...to win. Mendy to take it to win the Cup and earn a berth to the UEFA Cup

psg lens 2-1 B.mendy coupe de la ligue

Bernard MENDY SCORES Paris Saint-Germain 2 RC Lens 1

Paris Saint-Germain
wins the
Coupe de la Ligue

Coupe de la Ligue

Today, Paris Saint-Germain - Racing Club de Lens in the final. Providing my feed works I will be providing regular updates.

PSG - Lyon update

that ended quickly as Sidney Govou just scored for Lyon to take a 3-2 lead.

Pace is extremely fast - up & down the pitch

update -

Juninho just scored at 72nd minute giving Lyon a commanding 4-2 lead.

PSG - Lyon

quick update with PSG - Lyon match.

Jerome Rothen of PSG scored at fifty-second minute to bring the match to 2-2 tie. Extremely important match for PSG to avoid relegation

Coupe de France; USJA Carquefou

In a stunning upset at the Coupe de France before their home-crowd, lower divison USJA Carquefou played the match of their lives, defeated Olympique Marseille 1-0. Carquefou now advances to the quarter-finals.

In the year of the underdog with smaller clubs advancing in national title races, this is one of the best stories.

Complete Coupe de France details to follow including Paris Saint-Germain's advance!