In their Cup of France match on Friday, Chateauroux may have been underestimated by Paris Saint-Germain, according to Christophe Galtier.
Carlos Soler and Juan Bernat’s late goals helped PSG win the game 3-1 at Stade Gaston Petit, but not before their third-tier opponents had put up a fight.
Hugo Ekitike, a 20-year-old PSG player who was forced to play without Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, or Lionel Messi, gave them the lead early on. Natanael Ntolla then tied the score just before halftime with a deflection off El Chadaille Bitshiabu.
However, late pressure paid off for Galtier’s team as Soler and Bernat both scored, and the PSG head coach was just pleased to advance to the round of 32.
“There is the satisfaction in being qualified,” he said. “Games like this are difficult. The start was in line with what I expected, with the opener. Afterwards, my team was cut in two and that gave Chateauroux a lot of hope.
“Did we think things were going to be easy? Maybe.”
✅It's over! 3-1 win for the Parisians in Châteauroux and qualification for the round of 16 of the #CoupeDeFrance! ❤️💙
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) January 6, 2023
⚽️ @hekitike9
⚽️ @Carlos10Soler
⚽️ Juan Bernat
🏆 #LBCPSG pic.twitter.com/RiUQfd35sr
Ismael Gharbi, Bitshiabu, and 16-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery were among the young trio that the former Lille and Nice manager made seven changes to from the lineup that began the 3-1 defeat at Lens last time out.
Galtier was pleased with the performances of the young players despite the fact that it took the visitors until just after the hour to take the lead after Sergio Ramos and Fabian Ruiz were substituted for Bitshiabu and Gharbi. Galtier had anticipated a difficult night because several members of the first team were absent due to the World Cup.
“I was satisfied with the young players,” he said. “They were serious and on pace. I really liked Ismael in the game. Warren was of a good level. El Chadaille was unhappy [about the goal against].
“I expected a complex game with the absence of many players and the different states of form. We will see which ones we will recover for Angers [on Wednesday].
“Teams that have had a lot of players at the World Cup are struggling to restart at the start of the year. We will quickly have to refocus on the objectives.”