Safonov's Heroics Lead to Penalty Shootout Against PSG

Matvey Safonov led Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to a victory against Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final with an extraordinary performance. In the post-match penalty shootout, the goalkeeper saved four consecutive shots, securing the planetary trophy for his team.

However, PSG's path to the penalty stage included several missed opportunities by its players. The match ended in a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes of play.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring for PSG in the 38th minute. Flamengo's Jorginho equalized in the 62nd minute with a penalty goal.

In the penalty shootout, PSG edged out Flamengo 2-1. Matvey Safonov (rating 9.5) emerged as the standout player of the match; however, his performance during regular play was not consistently reliable.

Flamengo attempted only two shots on target over 120 minutes, requiring minimal saves from Safonov. Midway through the first half, he almost made an error under intense pressing, while late in the second half, he passively watched shots from Flamengo that missed their mark.

Safonov's errors included allowing Jorginho's penalty in the 61st minute and failing to save Nicolás De La Cruz’s initial penalty in the shootout. After that, Safonov displayed exceptional focus and saved four successive penalties, guiding PSG to the trophy.

Marquinhos (rating 3.0) faced significant criticism during the game. Approximately an hour into the match, he committed an unnecessary foul on the opposing striker, resulting in the penalty that equalized the match.

Marquinhos lost most of his duels (10 of 15) and failed to deliver diagonal passes to Kvaratskhelia. In the final moments of extra time, he caused an unpleasant situation for himself and his team in the penalty area by blocking a header from Ousmane Dembélé.

Senni Mayulu (rating 3.0) also delivered a disappointing performance. Substituting for the injured Lee Kang-in in the 35th minute, Mayulu struggled in duels, losing seven out of eight, failed two dribbling attempts, and committed two fouls.

Although his passing accuracy was reportedly 100%, the number of passes was minimal (only seven). As a result, Luis Enrique replaced Mayulu again in the 64th minute.

Ousmane Dembélé (rating 3.0) underperformed as well. Substituted into the game, the forward had four shot opportunities, but they lacked quality—weak strikes, blocked by opponents or teammates, or dramatically off target.

Adding to his struggles, Dembélé missed his penalty during the shootout, not even hitting the target. This series of errors during regular play brought PSG to the penalty stage.

Ultimately, it was Safonov's composure and reflexes that led PSG to victory in the final, securing yet another major trophy for the Parisian club. Kirill Ivantsov

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