Dunkerque’s only other semi-final in this competition had been in 1929, but they left Les Parisiens stunned just seven minutes into proceedings. Having been largely pinned back, Les Maritimes made the most of their chance when Alec Georgen flicked Naatan Skytta’s free-kick to the back post for Vincent Sasso to fire onto the underside of the crossbar and in.
PSG swiftly went back on the front foot, although almost all of Luis Castro’s men were often found on the edge of their own box and did enough to deny Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue.
The persistence of PSG’s probing was matched by an unwaveringly defiant Dunkerque, who sent the Stade Pierre-Mauroy into absolute rapture again in the 27th minute, when Gaetan Courtet headed Ewen Jaouen’s long ball towards Muhannad Al-Saad, who got behind Nuno Mendes before clinically finishing.
After Les Maritimes had repelled a flurry of PSG shots, Dembele finally broke their defences with a venomous strike in the 45th minute.
Skytta and Al-Saad both had a shot blocked before the break, and Dunkerque were left furious three minutes after the restart when a corner was given to PSG after Marquinhos had headed wide, and the ensuing corner resulted in the Brazilian heading past Jaouen.
Skytta came agonisingly close to an immediate response before PSG started to pile on pressure again, with Doue having one shot blocked and sending another wide, either side of Dembele’s driven shot being saved.
There was further misfortune for the home team as Doue’s shot took a big deflection that wrongfooted Jaouen, who couldn’t claw the ball away. Dunkerque refused to give in with Yacine Bammou showing intent after his introduction, but Les Parisiens also continued to push forward, and Achraf Hakimi’s shot had to be palmed behind before Jaouen ensured he wasn’t beaten by another deflected effort from Doue.
Having made spirited forays forward of their own in search of an equaliser, Les Maritimes were finally downed in the 94th minute when Dembele capitalised on a mistake by racing through and coolly slotting the ball home as PSG continued their unbeaten record domestically this season to reach the Coupe de France final.
They also inflicted Dunkerque’s fourth consecutive defeat across all competitions in the process, although that shouldn’t dent the pride attached to a brilliant run that saw the Ligue 2 side beat three top-tier outfits.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain)