Chelsea defeat Paris to retain Youth League title
Monday, April 18, 2016
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Paris Saint-Germain 1-2 Chelsea
Kasey Palmer's strike settled an eventful final in favour of Adi Viveash's team, who win the UEFA Youth League for the second successive season.
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- Chelsea retain UEFA Youth League title after holding off late Paris rally
- Blues centre-back Fikayo Tomori scores first goal in 17 competition outings
- Tomori then concedes penalty, taken by Jean-Kévin Augustin, which Bradley Collins saves
- Yakou Meïté levels with powerful strike from edge of the box
- Kasey Palmer wins it for Chelsea, who complete the continental season unbeaten
Kasey Palmer scored the winner, three minutes after Paris Saint-Germain had equalised, as Chelsea retained the UEFA Youth League title.
Palmer made no mistake when slipped through by Ali Mukhtar just after the hour, dispatching his fifth European goal of the season past Rémy Descamps. It was a crushing blow for the French side, who had levelled moments earlier through Yakou Meïté's fierce drive and piled on the pressure in the closing stages.
Jean Kévin-Augustin ought to have equalised after 12 minutes. However, Paris' top scorer failed to beat Bradley Collins from the penalty spot after the speedy Christopher Nkunku had been tripped by centre-back Fikayo Tomori, who had fired Chelsea into an early lead.
Key player: Kasey Palmer
A substitute in last year's final, Palmer was a thorn in Paris' side. Playing behind lone forward Tammy Abraham, he often found space to trouble François Rodrigues' charges and had a rasping drive tipped over before Tomori's opener. Then came his title-clinching strike.
Collins comes up trumps
That Chelsea retained the trophy is in large part down to Collins. The importance of his penalty stop cannot be overstated – it would have been a big moment in any game, let alone early in a major final. It was not the fiercest or most accurate of penalties from Augustin, but the save still had to be made. He excelled again late on as Paris ramped up the pressure, denying Meïté.
Double Youth League winners
For Collins, Clarke-Salter, Temitayo Aina and captain Charlie Colkett this is a second UEFA Youth League triumph, the quartet having started the 2015 final against Shakhtar Donetsk. It caps a memorable few weeks for Clarke-Salter, who made his Premier League debut on 2 April against Aston Villa, and Colkett, on the bench versus Swansea a week later. There could be more silverware to come for 12 of this matchday squad, Clarke-Salter included, as they face Manchester City in the two-legged FA Youth Cup final later this month.
Chelsea make Paris pay
In a match of countless chances and incidents of goalmouth action, Chelsea were more clinical, though Adi Viveash's side were certainly culpable of wasting some clear-cut opportunities of their own. Palmer gave Paris, who needed a moment of brilliance from Meïté to restore parity, a cruel lesson in finishing.
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