Les Parisiennes win home Classique!
Women's football•
Paris Saint-Germain Women defeated Olympique de Marseille 2-1 at Campus PSG on Wednesday 11 March in Matchday 17 of the Arkéma Première Ligue, moving provisionally third in the process.
A few days before the final of the first ever LFFP Cup against OL Lyonnes in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, the Paris women's team were at the Campus on Wednesday for a Classique against Olympique de Marseille. Despite the busy schedule, Paulo César and his players were determined to continue their excellent form since the start of the year. In all competitions, the capital club has won six of its seven matches, scoring 21 goals and conceding only one, in a narrow defeat to Premiere Ligue leaders Lyon.
So it came as no surprise that Les Rouge et Bleu attacked from the kick-off, forcing Margot Shore into a first save after less than thirty seconds by Merveille Kanjinga (1'). The capital club created numerous chances in a one-sided first half. And it was Kanjinga who looked the most dangerous on the right wing, sending several crosses to Romée Leuchter, just unable to get on the end of them (27', 29', 31').
Despite the home side's dominance, the two teams went to the break scoreless. Paulo César took advantage of the restart to make his first changes, notably bringing on Griedge M'Bock, who was returning from injury, to replace Thiniba Samoura in defence. In attack, Rasheedat Ajibade made way for Tara Elimbi Gilbert. As in the first half, the partnership between Merveille Kanjinga and Romée Leuchter caused problems for Marseille (56').
The capital club decided to up the tempo with twenty minutes to go. Romée Leuchter had hit the post seconds earlier after winning her duel with Margot Shore, but Les Rouge et Bleu finally broke deadlock thanks to a moment of inspiration from Joe Echegini (1-0, 72'). After receiving a pass from Kanjinga, the midfielder delivered a crisp strike that flew into the back of the net.
Paris maintained the intensity in the final minutes of the match and continued to exploit space in behind the defence, an area in which Marseille had struggled since the start of the match. It was Tara Elimbi Gilbert who punished the visitors after a real show of skill. Following a one-two with Sakina Karchaoui, the newcomer beat her Marseille counterpart before beating Margot Shore to make it 2-0 in the 80th minute.
Jenny Perret's goal a few minutes later did little to change the outcome (2-1, 83'). Solid until the end and in complete control, the Paris Women won Le Classique before heading to the Cote d'Ivoire on Thursday to prepare for their LFFP Cup final on Saturday at17:30 CET against OL Lyonnes.