Desire Doue was the subject of praise from fans online for this performance in the UEFA Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Inter Milan. The 19-year-old delivered a performance that will go down in history as PSG put the Nerazzurri to the sword 5-0 in Munich to win their first-ever UCL trophy.
The Ligue 1 giants started the game as expected, putting Simone Inzaghi’s men significantly on the back foot from the off. Their strong start paid off after 12 minutes as Doue found Achraf Hakimi for the opener. The Frenchman got himself on the scoresheet eight minutes later. He received a pass from Ousmane Dembele, and his effort cannoned off Frederico Dimarco’s, which wrong-footed goalkeeper Yann Sommer and nestled in the middle of the net.
Paris Saint-Germain continued their dominance in the second half. They compounded Inter’s woes shortly after the hour mark when Vitinha drove forward after receiving a pass from Dembele. He consequently found Doue, who bagged his brace of the night and scored PSG’s third.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Senny Mayulu would go on to score in the 73rd and 86th minutes, respectively, to give Le Parisien their first continental treble in their history.
While Doue didn’t play the entirety of the match, he produced a man-of-the-match performance in the 67 minutes he spent on the pitch. Simply put, he had 41 touches, registered 3 shots on target, created two big chances, gave three key passes, and received a rating of 9.7 as per Sofascore. After the match, fans took to X to laud his performance, with one writing:
Another tweeted:
Desire Doue was deservedly named the man of the match after PSG’s routing of Inter Milan. Following his three goal contributions, he became the sixth different player to score and assist in a UEFA Champions League final, while at 19 years and 362 days, becoming the youngest player to do so.
He is the third youngest player to score in the UCL final, behind Patrick Kluivert (18 years, 5 months, and 23 days) and Carlos Alberto (19 years, 5 months, and 15 days). He also became the third teenager to score in a UCL final after Kluivert and Alberto. In addition, he is the only player with three goal involvements in a Champions League final in the 21st century.
An ardent Chelsea fan, Ezekiel’s journey as a football fan began in his childhood, witnessing Ronaldinho dazzle with his skills. His interest in the beautiful game deepened after Nigeria were knocked out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup; he was impressed with the Super Eagles’ fighting spirit in their 2-2 Group B draw against South Korea. Some other World Cup matches which have left a deep impact on him were Belgium’s incredible comeback against Japan in the round of 16 of the 2018 version and the 2022 final.
Lionel Messi is the one true GOAT for Ezekiel and he also follows the Major League Soccer and the Saudi Pro League owing to him and Cristiano Ronaldo. When not writing, he spends his free time deepening his SEO knowledge and watching skits.
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