Ireland’s Jake O’Brien scored a goal in the French Cup final on Saturday night, but his team Olympique Lyon were beaten by Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in Lille.
O’Brien scored a towering header from a corner in the 55th minute, with Lyon two goals down after first-half strikes from Ousmane Dembele and Fabian Ruiz.
Earlier that day, the centre-back shook hands with French Emmanuel Macron. The French president was told O’Brien “did a two week trial, to see if he was good enough and now he’s a star.”
Little was expected of O’Brien when he arrived but the 23-year-old from Youghal in Cork has earned an important spot in the Lyon team. “Big Jake”, as he is called in the Rhône region, broke into the line-up at the start of October and has started every Ligue 1 game since, bar one he missed through suspension. He has been the immovable object in a team that has seen significant rotation throughout the campaign.
In L’Équipe, O’Brien was rated six out of 10 for his performance, the highest of any Lyon player, while the illustrious Kylian Mbappé was given just a four rating.
The game was Mbappé's farewell match before his expected move to Real Madrid.
The Ligue 1 and French Super Cup champions PSG secured their record-extending 15th Cup title and first since 2021.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the last few years. Saying that it’s all over, it makes my heart ache a little. What I’ve had here, I’ll never find anywhere else,” Mbappé said.
Elsewhere, in more good news for Irish players abroad, striker Troy Parrott scored a hat-trick for Excelsior Rotterdam in the second leg of their Eredivisie relegation play-off semi-final tie. Parrott is on loan at the Dutch club from Tottenham Hotspur.
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