Rodez Aveyron triumphant in Coupe de France

The brilliance of the Coupe de France, where each year David meets Golaith continues as Rodez Aveyron defeats Paris Saint-Germain. The loss is a doubly painful for the Parisians as Lyonnais were equally knocked out, leaving the trophy up for grabs. Whether les Rouge et Bleu took Rodez lightly is quite obviously answered with the score-line but it worth noting the impassioned play of the home side.

With Claude Makélélé and Stéphane Sessegnon suspended, Paul Le Guen utilized Clément Chantôme, Jérémy Clément, Péguy Luyindula and Jérôme Rothen in the midfield and it was quite obviously their play was both uninspired and laboured from the busy schedule of late. The lack of bench depth of the Parisians cost dearly as the attacking vision was lacking and the Rodez held its own with a stubborn defending vision.

The match started well for PSG as Jérôme Rothen free-kick was sent into the net by Sammy Traoré only nine minutes into the match. In a night he will never forget, twenty-four year-old Jérémy Choplin a product of Le Mans system, threatened to level the match from midfielder Gaetan Belaud's provisions however PSG maintained its lead going into the break. At the restart les Rouge et Bleu came out strong but finishing was deplorable and five minutes past the hour, defending broke down resulting in Jérémy Choplin free in on Mickaël Landreau and closing out to the delight of the home supporters. The beneficiary of good fortune and continued poor final touches by PSG, the match went to extra time with Jérémy Choplin providing the winner with a powerful drive from thirty-five metres with five minutes remaining. Three minutes later Miguel Pacios added his mark to the evening with a splendid volley from inside the box, bringing the match to its final 3-1 score.