Over the last three days, eight Coupe de France matches have taken place, leaving eight sides remaining in France’s premier cup competition ahead of the Quarter Finals due to be played at the beginning of next month.
AS Yzeure scored first against holders EA Guingamp and it took the in-form Ligue 1 side until extra time to eventually over come their 4th division competitors, the game finishing with a 1-3 scoreline. Ngoye’s header just after the hour mark looked to be enough until the 4th minute of additional time when Christophe Mandanne bundled the ball into the back of the net, allowing EAG to overpower the home side with another from Mandanne before Pied capitalised on naive defending to confirm their win in extra time.
Guingamp will travel to 4th division side and the lowest ranked team left in the competition Concarneau after they overcame fellow CFA side Croix on penalties.
Another lowly encounter saw National outfit Boulogne overcome CFA team and previous Coupe de France specialists Quevilly in a relatively straightforward 2-0 victory. Gbizié and Gope-Fenepej got the goals for the 3rd division side.
Boulogne will play host to Ligue 1 big boys St Étienne who struggled to put 10-man Red Star to the sword in Paris. Ricky van Wolfswinkel might have given Les Verts an early lead, but the 3rd division side avenged the sending off of Ielsch by equalising in the second half courtesy of Bouazza. From that moment on, Red Star were pinned down mostly by ASSE, who finally got their reward in the form of an own goal by Cros 10 minutes before the end.
In an all Ligue 1 clash, Monaco responded well to their embarrassing defeat to 10-men Guingamp at the weekend by dispatching of a characteristically mediocre Rennes side, 3-1 the score. Two early headed goals from Wallace and Touré set the tone of the match, even if Pedro Henrique pulled one back for the away side on the stroke of half-time. Anthony Martial was on hand in the second half to put away a penalty and confirm ASM’s passage into the last eight.
PSG will be Monaco’s rivals in the Coupe de France quarter finals after they beat Brittany outfit Nantes 2-0 at the Parc des Princes. Cavani and a rejuvenated Cabaye got the goals against a truly terrible Les Canaris side, devoid of any form thus far in 2015.
The remaining two fixtures of this midweek cup bonanza have culminated in the qualification of two second tier sides to set up an all-Ligue 2 Coupe de France quarter final. Ligue 2 high-fliers Brest arguably caused the shock of the week in beating Ligue 1 strugglers Metz on penalties after the two sides played out 120 minutes of 0-0 action.
Auxerre will make the trip to Brest having beaten Poire sur Vie in similar fashion – on penalties after a scoreless normal and extra time.
The quarter final schedule in full below, games to be played on the 3rd and 4th March:
PSG vs AS Monaco
Boulogne vs St Étienne
Concarneau vs Guingamp
Brest vs Auxerre
[PHOTO: Zimbio.com]
