Ligue 1

Pochettino Wins First Trophy As A Manager

Mauricio Pochettino won the first trophy of his managerial career as Paris St-Germain beat Marseille to win the Trophee des Champions in Lens.

The Trophee des Champions is France’s version of the Community Shield – a game between the league and cup winners.

It was only the former Spurs manager’s third game in charge of PSG after being appointed earlier this month.

Mauro Icardi tapped home PSG’s opener from close range and won a penalty which Neymar scored for the second while Dmitri Payet scored a late consolation with a clever flick for Marseille.

Neymar returned from a month out with an ankle injury to score from the spot for PSG, but Icardi was the game’s key player. He had a goal disallowed before scoring the opener. His goal was from a rebound after his header was tipped onto the post by Steve Mandanda.

He then hit the crossbar and won the penalty when he was brought down by Marseille’s substitute keeper Yohann Pele.

The victory continues PSG’s dominance of French football. They have won 19 of their past 20 finals in domestic cups and have won this competition for the past eight years.

Pochettino failed to win anything in almost four years at Espanyol, 16 months at Southampton and five and a half years with Spurs and is happy that he has his first trophy as a manager

“Paris deserve this win, we played well. I want to thank the players, Leonardo, Nasser. I also have a thought for Thomas Tuchel and his staff, who enabled us to play this game,” said Pochettino.

“We’re improving in every area in which we want to put in place our ideas. We have a squad of very intelligent players, they have a great ability to adapt. We’re very happy.

“I hope to win other trophies, but the first will always be special. The squad showed a lot of maturity, learned from their mistakes. It’s a great feeling to win with the staff. It’s difficult to put it into words, especially as it’s a club that made me into a better person, a better player.”