France international Ousmane Dembélé scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain overturned a two-goal deficit on Tuesday night to beat Dunkerque 4-2 to advance to the final of the Coupe de France.
Issued on: 01/04/2025 - 23:48
2 min
The promotion-chasing second division outfit raced into a 2-0 lead at the Stade Pierre Mauroy with goals from Vincent Sasso and Muhannad Yahya Saeed Al Saad to set the scene for one of the great shocks in the Coupe de France.
But in the dying seconds of the first-half, Achraf Hakimi set up Dembélé to halve the deficit for the Ligue 1 pacesetters.
Three minutes after the restart, referee Jerome Brisard and his fellow officials mistakenly awarded PSG a corner.
It was played short to Dembélé who swung over a cross from the right and his skipper Marquinhos headed the ball past Dunkerque goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen to level the score.
PSG, who are seeking a record 16th crown in the Coupe de France, took the lead after 62 minutes. Bradley Barcola's neat back-heel in the Dunkerque penalty area offered Désiré Doué with a chance to shoot.
The 19-year-old's effort took a vicious deflection and though Jaouen got a hand to the ball, he could not prevent it from nestling in the net.
With PSG dominating possession and holding the advantage, Dunkerque failed to construct threatening passages of play. They were eventually undone in stoppage time.
End
Dembélé picked up William Pacho's thrashed clearance from defence and homed in on Jaouen to slot in his 32nd goal of the season.
"My teammates are helping me enormously," Dembélé told French broadcaster France 2.
"I've been getting into good positions to score and I've been doing so."
On Saturday, PSG can wrap up a record 13th top flight title with a draw at the Parc des Princes against Angers.
Dunkerque, who are fifth in Ligue 2, host Guingamp on Monday as they battle for the places leading to a berth in the promotion play-offs.
"It was never a corner for the second goal," lamented Dunkerque skipper Opa Sanganté. "And once you let in a goal like that for the equaliser, it's going to be difficult, especially against a team like PSG.
"But we showed that we can play a good match," the 34-year-old midfielder added. "We gave a really good account of ourselves. It should help us for the rest of the season."
PSG will face either Ligue 1 Reims or fourth division Cannes in the final at the Stade de France on 24 May.