28 May 2007, by Sean Gillen

Pauleta consecrated goal king in France

Lorient 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain

Portuguese striker Pedro Pauleta finished as the French Ligue 1 top goalscorer, after netting the only goal of the game as Paris Saint-Germain beat Lorient at the Stade du Moustoir on Saturday.

The Azorean’s 54th minute strike saw him finish on 15 league goals in Le Championnat, two clear of Steve Savidan of Valenciennes. It is the third time that Portugal’s all-time record goalscorer has topped the charts in France since moving to Bordeaux in 2000.

“I am clearly very proud and happy to finish top scorer in Ligue 1,” he said. “For that I have to thank the whole team. I am happy for the team and that the season has finished in a positive way.”

“We have had a difficult season and we are all happy we are safe. That was more important than being top scorer. This evening, I would like to give a big hats off to the supporters, who believed until the end.”

A poor encounter was settled with a well-constructed PSG goal less than ten minutes into the first half. Jerome Rothen did well to make room for the cross on the left flank and produced a wonderful ball to the back post for Pauleta to nod in from close range.

It is a positive end to a season to forget for PSG, who have spent the second half of the season battling relegation after slipping into the drop zone over Christmas, and boss Paul Le Guen admits that the club will be looking for better in the next campaign.

“At the end of the season our only objective was to stay up which we have done,” he said. “But 15th place is not what PSG hopes to achieve. We will have to work in the summer to ensure that the scenario does not repeat itself.”

Lorient:
Riou, Ciani, Moullec, Marchal (Genton, 5), Abriel, Le Pen, Taider (Pedron, 80), Mansouri, Jallet, Bourhani (Gignac, 60), Morel

Paris Saint-Germain:
Landreau, Rozehnal, Mendy, Yepes, Armand, Cisse, Rothen, Clement, Luyindula (Chantome, 85), Pauleta (Diane, 82), Frau (Gallardo, 70)
Yellow Cards: Armand (52)

Goals:
[0-1] Pauleta, 54