Ligue 1

PSG Beat Bordeaux to Win Trophee des Champions

psg-win-cupIn the spirit of champions, Paris Saint-Germain come from behind to beat Bordeaux 2-1 to win the Trophee des Champions and give new manager Laurent Blanc a winning start.

Despite winning Blanc will have to be worried about the slow tempo that PSG played at for most of the game. The Ligue 1 champions were also missing some creative spark in the final third, something they struggled with a lot last season.

Bordeaux took a 38th-minute lead through Henri Saivet and and held onto that lead until the last 10 minutes when substitute Hervin Ongenda levelled and then Alex headed home from a free kick with virtually the last kick of the game.

The league champions were on the front foot early on with the players looking to impress their new manager.

Lucas Moura released Ezequiel Lavezzi and his long-range effort was palmed away by Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso, who could only watch on as Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s lob from 25 yards just went over the bar.

The Coupe de France champions were not content to sit on the back foot, however, and Ludovic Obraniak attempted to catch out PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu, but the midfielder’s thumping strike was punched clear.

Bordeaux would not be denied, however, and they broke the deadlock when Saivet headed home at the near post following Nicolas Maurice-Belay’s ball in from the left.

Spurred into action after the interval, Ibrahimovic picked out Lavezzi in a good position but the Argentinian could only fire straight at Carrasso, while at the other end Maurice-Belay missed the target by inches as Bordeaux attempted to kill the game off on the counter-attack.

They drew level in the 81st minute when Ongenda played a one-two with Ibrahimovic to go through on goal, where the 18-year-old made no mistake with his finish.

It seemed certain the match would be heading straight to penalties, but former Chelsea centre-back Alex popped up in the fifth minute of injury time, rising highest to head powerfully into the net from Moura’s free-kick, to ensure Blanc had a memorable start to life as PSG coach.