Wissam Ben Yedder put Monaco in control from the first seconds (1st, 0-1) but Lyon reacted by reversing the trend thanks to Alexandre Lacazette (22nd, 1-1) and Saïd Benrahma (26th, 2-1). Ben Yedder equalized on the hour mark (60th, 2-2) before Fofana (66th) and Orel Mangala (79th) came into play for OL.
Fofana, who arrived last winter from La Gantoise, finally scored the winning goal at the end of the match (84th) while Ben Yedder saw his third goal of the evening canceled for offside (79th).
PSG crowned for the 12th time
Thanks to this victory for Lyon against Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain won with three days remaining a twelfth French championship title, the third in a row and the tenth since the club was bought by Qatar in 2011. Only Montpellier (2012), Monaco (2017) and Lille (2021) have managed to deprive PSG of the championship title since that date.
Although favorite for its own succession, PSG did not start the 2023/2024 financial year without doubts. The club then parted ways with three of its big names. Lionel Messi left France for Inter Miami, Neymar, who arrived in 2017, headed to Saudi Arabia (Al-Hilal) and Marco Verratti, an indisputable starter in the Parisian scene since 2012, was sold to the Qatari club Al Arabi. The club also replaced Christophe Galtier with Spaniard Luis Enrique, winner of the 2015 Champions League with Barcelona, as coach.
Despite a sluggish start (six points taken over the first five days), PSG quickly found its cruising speed, with ten wins and two draws in the following twelve matches. With three days remaining, it is twelve points ahead of second place, Monaco.
The Parisians were able to count on the reflexes of their goalkeeper Gianluigi Donarumma but also on the emergence of Warren Zaire-Emery, 18, in midfield. A French international since November, the latter has demonstrated good complementarity with the Portuguese Vitinha, a Real metronome of the team. Up front, PSG relied on the talent of Kylian Mbappé (26 goals in 27 matches) and on the newfound consistency of Ousmane Dembélé, who arrived from Barcelona in the summer transfer window.
The capital club also benefited from the mediocre season of all its competitors. The Lyon and Marseille Olympics have changed coaches three times during the season and are currently struggling not to finish in the soft underbelly. This is also the case for Lens, the 2023 runner-up, with a series of good and bad periods.
In 2024, PSG can still achieve a historic treble. Enrique’s players will be keen to win the Coupe de France final on May 25 against Lyon, After two years of drought in the competition. Above all, they are still in the running to win the Champions League, the club’s major objective since it was bought. After eliminating Barça in the quarter-finals, Paris will have every chance of reaching the final since it will face Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals on May 1 and 7.
This could be the opportunity for Mbappé to definitively mark the history of the club. At 25, the top scorer in the history of PSG (255 goals) and the captain of the France team has been announced as leaving for Real Madrid after seven seasons in Paris, where he was born and raised.
