A penalty in the third minute of injury time by Bernard Mendy earned Paris Saint Germain a 2-1 victory over Lens in the final of the French League Cup on Saturday.
The match at a packed Stade de France looked to be heading for extra-time after an Eric Carriere equalizer in the second half cancelled out Pedro Pauleta's early opener for PSG.
But referee Laurent Duhamel pointed to the spot in the dying seconds and Mendy sidefooted the ball home gently to the left of Lens keeper Ronan Le Crom to spark off a night of celebrations for the Parisians amongst the 79,000-strong crowd.
Far from a nervy affair, the match was played at pace with both sides prepared to go forward with enterprising moves, at least until the final 20 minutes when things petered out as a spectacle.
In the 18th minute, PSG were ahead. Portuguese striker Pauleta looked up to see Le Crom off his line and delivered a cheeky chip which found the net with the aid of the bottom of the keeper's left hand post.
Shortly after the break however, PSG's lead had gone.
A veteran, like Pauleta, 35-year-old Eric Carriere got on the scoresheet in the 52nd minute.
After good work by Toifilou Maoulida on the right, Carriere fired home from an angle on the right with the help of keeper Mickael Landreau's right hand post.
It was a cruel blow for Lens when the penalty decision was made in the third minute of injury time.
Substitute Peguy Luyindula was adjudged to have been brought down by Lens's Brazilian captain Hilton in the box and Mendy stepped up to make no mistake with the spotkick.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
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Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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