Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has said Laurent Blanc will remain as coach of the club next season despite failing once again to get past the quarterfinal stages of the Champions League. "We have given him a two-year contract extension. He will be staying with us for next year," Al-Khelaifi said after the 2-1 win over Lille in the French League Cup final Saturday. Despite signing a new contract in February taking him through to June 2018, Blanc's position with the club's Qatari owners came under threat with the loss to Manchester City in the last eight of Europe's top club competition. But Blanc led PSG to a runaway fourth straight win in the league and into the French Cup final before the League Cup success. Blanc has been head coach at PSG since 2013 after two years in charge of the French national side. Ten-man PSG edged Lille in the French League Cup final to remain on course Saturday for a domestic clean sweep of titles. The Ligue 1 champion took the lead five minutes before half-time in contentious circumstances, with Javier Pastore's shot passing through the legs of an offside Layvin Kurzawa on its way into the net. But Lille hit back shortly after the restart when Djibril Sidibe fired a free-kick through the wall and into the net. The capital city side was dealt a huge blow when Adrien Rabiot was shown a second yellow card for a cynical foul on the impressive Sofiane Boufal with 20 minutes remaining. But a moment of madness from Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama allowed Angel Di Maria to roll in the winner with 16 minutes to play for his 15th goal of the season. Blanc's men now have three trophies this term with a French Cup final against Marseille to come, as they look to ease the pain of their Champions League quarterfinal defeat to Manchester City. "My players, even at 10 against 11, wanted to win that game," coach Blanc told television channel France 2, after his team won the final for the third year in a row. PSG thrashed Bastia 4-0 12 months ago to seal a record fifth League Cup title, while Lille was playing in the final of the competition for the first time. Earlier, midfielder Corentin Tolisso scored five minutes from time as Lyon beat relegation-threatened Toulouse 3-2 to secure a vital win in its chase for second place in the French league. — Agencies
