Saint-Etienne qualified for the final of the Coupe de France where he will face Paris SG on April 25, beating Rennes 2 to 1, Thursday March 5. The Greens, in difficulty in the French Championship (16e, with only two points ahead of the roadblocker, Nîmes), ran after the score.
In front of their audience, Claude Puel's men had started the meeting well. But a fault by Saliba in his area at the half-hour mark offered his opponents a penalty, transformed into strength by Mbaye Niang (33e). Ten minutes later, Loïs Diony placed a balloon on Kolodziejczak's head (43e) to dismiss the two teams equally at the break.
The second period was less lively and Ryad Boudebouz, entered the 83e minute, arose after additional time to send a shot from the left in Rennes goals (90e+4). Thirty-eight years later, Saint-Étienne finds the final of the oldest football competition in France. In the final, Saint-Etienne will challenge the ogre Paris SG who disgusted Lyon 5-1 the day before with a hat-trick from Kylan Mbappé.
For his last Coupe de France final in 1982, Saint-Etienne, led by a certain Michel Platini, bowed on penalties (2-2, 5-6 t.a.b.) against … PSG.
