Liga 1Paris Saint-Germain

PSG wins the Trophee des Champions for a record ninth time

By Muhammed Vasil
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Kylian Mbappe inspired a second-half comeback as Paris Saint-Germain retained the Trophee des Champions with a 2-1 win over Rennes in Shenzhen on Saturday.

Victors via shoot-out when the teams met in the Coupe de France final in April, Rennes looked set again to upstage their more glamorous opponents through Adrian Hunou’s tidy 13th-minute finish.

Star forward Mbappe had other ideas and his 57th-minute equaliser laid the platform for Angel Di Maria to complete the turnaround in splendid style, the substitute stroking in a stunning free-kick 17 minutes from full-time.

PSG have now claimed the season’s first silverware for seven straight years and did so on this occasion without Barcelona-linked Neymar, who watched on as he missed the match through suspension.

Thilo Kehrer headed an early chance against the crossbar and seemed to be thinking about the opportunity as he dozed off a minute later.

Hunou darted in behind the defender to steer Benjamin Bourigeaud’s right-wing cross past Alphonse Areola.

PSG’s start would have been worse had Juan Bernat seen red and not yellow for a two-footed lunge on James Lea Siliki.

Mbappe unleashed several fruitless first-half shots before Edinson Cavani poked wide with a poacher’s effort.

The former restored eventually parity with the easiest of tap-ins, Pablo Sarabia cushioning Marquinhos’ lofted pass into Mbappe’s path.

Sarabia almost bundled in a second moments later and it was the Spaniard who won the foul for the 73rd-minute winner.

Di Maria took ownership of the dead ball and gave Tomas Koubek no chance with a sublime strike into the top-right corner to complete the quickfire turnaround.

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Muhammed Vasil
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