The introduction of the playoffs – with a national title decided in a final – will not have changed anything. Year after year, the players of Olympique Lyonnais (OL) leave only crumbs to the competition. Friday May 17 at home, they won their seventeenth French championship title in eighteen seasons.
Captain Wendie Renard’s teammates once again beat their rival Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) thanks to goals from Delphine Cascarino and Kadidiatou Diani. Emblem of French football, Renard is the only player on the squad to have participated in obtaining all these titles. Perhaps waiting to win a ninth Champions League on May 25 in Bilbao with his long-time club in the final against FC Barcelona.
At the end of April, OL had already got rid of the Parisiennes in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The Lyonnaises of coach Sonia Bompastor therefore remain on a series of three consecutive victories against the capital club and confirm their status as a beast for the team coached by Jocelyn Prêcheur.
Unlike previous confrontations, PSG started the game ideally. Certainly by following an instruction from their coach, who often regrets the pressure immediately imposed by his opponent. From the 4th minute of play, the best player in Division 1, Tabitha Chawinga, went deep and overtook Vanessa Gilles. The Malawian striker takes the first shot of the match, above the goals of Lyon goalkeeper Christiane Endler.
L’erreur de Katarzyna Kiedrzynek
Gradually, the favorites from Lyon enter their final. And it’s a wonderful opening from the midfielder of Daniëlle van de Donk who takes the PSG defense from behind, until then well helped by the false libero positioning during the defensive phases of their captain, Grace Geyoro. The Dutchwoman’s diagonal finds Cascarino in depth. The latter leaves no chance to Jade Le Guilly and the Parisian goalkeeper, Katarzyna Kiedrzynek, not very inspired in this action (18th, 1-0).
On April 20, in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League, PSG led by two goals before being overthrown in ten minutes. Eight days later, OL immediately took the lead by scoring in the third minute of play. This time, the scenario repeats itself, especially since the break comes only four minutes later.
Already at fault in the same way in the semi-finals against Paris FC, Kiedrzynek once again made a gross error. The Pole procrastinates with the ball at her feet and gets it stolen by Melchie Dumornay. The Haitian plays intelligently behind Kadidiatou Diani who doubles the score (22nd, 2-0). The ex-PSG striker knocks out the Parisian players.
The reaction of visitors is timid. Chawinga strikes with the outside of his foot in the middle of the penalty area but Endler rejects the attempt (35th). The Parisians struggle to trigger the revolt. Conversely, upon returning from the locker room, OL came close to scoring a third goal thanks to Amel Majri, who came on during the break in place of Damaris Egurrola. The French winger was flagged offside when she had deceived the opposing goalkeeper.
Kadidiatou Diani injured
While the fate of this final seems sealed, Tabitha Chawinga, imprecise but omnipresent, revives the hope of Parisiennes. Served by Sakina Karchaoui, her first attempt was repelled with her foot by Christiane Endler. But Vanessa Gilles misses the ball and involuntarily offers a second chance to Chawinga who reduces the score (2-1, 73rd).
Shortly before, Kadidiatou Diani was injured, replaced by the German Dzsenifer Marozsan (72nd). At the hour mark, it was the other Lyon scorer who gave way to Vicki Becho. On the Parisian side, Prêcheur replaces Korbin Albert with Lieke Martens (63rd) and Jade Le Guilly with Thiniba Samoura (70th).
The Parisiennes throw their last strength into the battle. Without managing to appear truly dangerous in order to equalize. Despite a final shot from Chawinga, the four minutes of added time were not enough to change the course of this extended season. In front of more than 15,000 spectators committed to their cause, the Lyonnaises once again celebrated their national supremacy. In a week, they will face a major challenge against the reigning European champions, the formidable Barcelona.