The great start to the year continues for our Parisiennes! A few days after securing a comfortable qualification against Lille in the round of 32 of the Coupe de France (2-0), Les Rouge et Bleu returned to the Arkema Première Ligue with the goal of starting a winning streak to kick off the new year. Paulo César's players faced a Dijon side sitting sixth in the table and determined to put up a good fight in front of their home crowd.
Right from the start, Paris showed their desire to strike quickly and decisively, with captain Sakina Karchaoui's shot flying over the bar (2'). However, the first quarter of an hour remained relatively tight, with Dijon playing cautiously. Looking to press harder, Les Rouge et Bleu finally managed to open the scoring with a bit of luck, as Karchaoui's cross ended up in the back of the net, lobbing Dijon goalkeeper Katriina Talaslahti (0-1, 25').
Paulo César's players freed themselves up and increased the pressure on the Dijon goal. Paulina Dudek saw her header fly just over the bar following a fine cross from Olga Carmona (35'). Another dangerous cross from the Spanish international rounded off a first half dominated by our Parisian side, who were rightly rewarded for their positivity.
The visitors returned from the dressing room with the intention of putting the match out of sight, with another shot from Karchaoui narrowly missing, crashing into the top of the crossbar (53'). A few minutes later, Florianne Jourde came close to capitalising on a great ball from our captain, but missed the target (60').
Elisa De Almeida forced Talaslahti into a fine save with a powerful shot, cementing Paulo César's side's dominance of the match (68'). And just as Dijon began to look more dangerous in the final minutes, Les Rouge et Bleu crucified their opponents, with substitute Tara Elimbi Gilbert perfectly meeting a cross on the edge of the six-yard box to seal the win (0-2, 84').
Paris then landed a couple of parting blows to Pierre-Alain Picard's players with a long-range strike from Carmona (0-3, 88'), followed moments later by a fine piece of skill from Merveille Kanjinga (0-4, 89'). Three late goals rewarded Paris's fine performance, securing a second victory in 2026 for Les Rouge et Bleues.
The capital club will have the opportunity to extend the winning run on Saturday, on the pitch at Stade Océane in Le Havre.
