Mbappe scored the winning goal against Rennes in the French Cup semi-final (Anadolu Agency)
International striker Kylian Mbappe led his team, Paris Saint-Germain, to face Lyon in the French Cup final by scoring the winning goal over his guest Rennes 1-0 on Wednesday in the semi-finals.
Mbappe scored the only goal of the match in the 40th minute, after three minutes earlier he missed a penalty kick that was saved by veteran goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
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Mbappe raised his tally to 37 goals in the competition and became the fourth-highest scorer in the history of the cup after Michel Platini (44), Argentine Delio Onis (44) and Bernard Lacombe (39).
After winning six of the seven editions of the competition between 2015 and 2021, Saint-Germain, the record holder for the number of victories (14), was eliminated from the final stage in the past two seasons by Nice and Marseille. He also took revenge on Rennes for losing to him in the 2019 final on penalty kicks 5-6 after a 2-2 draw.
Saint-Germain, which reached the twentieth final in its history in a record number of years to break its ties with Marseille, continued its positive performances in its first season under the supervision of Spaniard Luis Enrique, as it heads to retain its league title for the third consecutive season, which it leads by a large margin of 12 points over runner-up Brest. He reached the eighth final of the Champions League, where a fiery confrontation awaits him against Barcelona.
Enrique included the trio of Mbappe, South Korean Lee Kang-in and Ousmane Dembele as the main players in the attack, in addition to the Brazilian captain Marquinhos, who returned from injury in defense, for the first time since February 17.
Saint-Germain won a penalty kick after an individual effort by Mbappe inside the area, during which he tampered with defender Warmid Omari, who was forced to grab him with his shirt and bring him down. However, the “Roosters” national team striker missed his kick after it was blocked by Mandanda (37).
Mbappe missed penalty kickpic.twitter.com/Gsbf68M6WR
— FootColic ⚽️ (@FootColic) April 3, 2024
Mbappe compensated by opening the scoring with his eighth goal in the competition this season, after a deep pass from Spaniard Fabian Royce. He penetrated the area, dribbled and shot a ball that hit the young defender Omari and deceived Mandanda (40).
🇫🇷 Goal: Mbappe | Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Rennespic.twitter.com/emtyi9iIAP
— FootColic ⚽️ (@FootColic) April 3, 2024
Lyon, who won the title five times, reached the final for the first time since its last victory in 2012, by defeating its guest Valenciennes from the second division 3-0 on Tuesday in the other semi-final.
Source: French