Paris Saint-Germain's teenage midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery was happy after his first start for the capital club - in the Coupe de France round of 64 away to Châteauroux - ended in victory despite a spirited display from the third-division side.
PSG ended up getting the win they were expected to get as they took on the third-tier club, but it was no walk in the park for Christophe Galtier's men, shorn of their super-star trio of Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr and with a number of academy prospects - including Zaire-Emery - in their ranks.
Zaire-Emery: 'Very happy'
"I am very happy to have got my first start. I played 90 minutes, I am very happy and I hope that there will be other opportunities in the future," said the 16-year-old, who was joined in the starting XI by fellow youngsters Ismail Gharbi and El Chadaille Bitshiabu, as well as substitute Ilyes Housni. "We came to get the win; it's an objective for the club, and for everybody. We came here to qualify. They are a team that caused us lots of problems, but we were able to get past these problems and win as the match drew to a close."
Hugo Ekitike opened the scoring early after latching onto a superb through-pass from Gharbi (13'), but the favourites then spent a good 40 minutes on level terms after Natanael Ntolla Thio hit back (37'). Strikes from Spaniards Carlos Soler (78') and Juan Bernat (90'+1) grabbed victory late on.
Coach Christophe Galtier was no doubt relieved by the final result, but also very pleased with how his youngsters stepped up when called upon - even though e had a contingency plan.
Galtier: 'Believe in the quality of our young players'
"It was important in my view, that the players who have been working with us throughout the week for a while now, get the chance to play, but not in a completely changed side - I played them because I believe in them," said the PSG honcho. "And the club also needs to believe in the quality of our young players. There were two options: either they were going to come on during the match, or they were going to start. It seemed most appropriate to start them and if the match got slightly more tricky, my senior players could take over, and that's what they did when they came on."
Galtier is likely to return to a more customary stating XI on Wednesday, when his side do battle with bottom side Angers in Ligue 1 Uber Eats Round 18.
