Trophée des Champions: Dembélé helps PSG edge Monaco
Match Reports
Despite an impressive nine saves by Philipp Kohn in the AS Monaco goal, Paris Saint-Germain picked up their fourth straight domestic trophy, winning the 2024 Trophée des Champions, 1-0, on a 92nd minute goal by Ousmane Dembélé.
A lively start
On the back of a 4-2 loss in Ligue 1 McDonald's last month, and with Wilfried Singo suspended and Folarin Balogun and Radoslaw Majecki injured, Adi Hütter's Monégasques were underdogs entering the match, and true to form, the capital side had the upper hand in the game's early stages. Désiré Doué, a surprise starter on the left ahead of Bradley Barcola, had a strong chance with just nine minutes on the clock, forcing Philipp Kohn, in for Majecki, to tip his effort on to the crossbar. Midway through the first half, Kohn was busy again, denying Dembélé twice in short succession and then Vitinha just after the half hour.
Monaco would react from there, though, as Maghnes Akliouche's right-footed strike forced a diving save from Gianluigi Donnarumma before the Italian had to work hard again to keep out Takumi Minamino before the break. Lee Kang-In then took the match by the scruff of the neck, forcing another pair of saves from Kohn just before the interval.
Another Trophée des Champions title for PSG ❤️💙
🏆 13 titles
🏆 Won 10 of the last 11
🏆 3 in a row pic.twitter.com/uDeoUnY8e2— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) January 5, 2025
Dembélé makes the difference
In the second half, Akliouche helped Monaco start the brighter, with a pair of efforts in short succession. From there, Akliouche's fellow academy product Eliesse Ben Seghir showed his ability, cutting into the box only two be denied by Donnarumma at the near post. The Moroccan then showed his skills as provider, crossing for Vanderson, but the right back's effort crashed off the bar (54').
Both managers made changes, and PSG would again show their ability, with Kohn making a leaping stop to keep out Achraf Hakimi with 15 minutes to play. Monaco would respond, though, as Minamino forced a save from a narrow angle, but Donnarumma was equal to his opposite number as the match stayed scoreless. In stoppage time, Kohn would make a fine stop to deny Gonçalo Ramos, but could do nothing to deny Dembélé, as the capital side once again relied on a late goal to get a result against Les Monégasques, winning the Trophée des Champions for a record 13th time.
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