Olympique de Marseille avoided a shock home loss to second division Le Havre by scoring twice in extra-time to reach the French Cup round-of-16 with a 3-1 win on Sunday.
The 10-time Cup winners struggled after the Ligue 2 team took an early lead, before putting together a combination of tough defense and lightning counterattacks.
Earlier, Olympique Lyonnais were also made to work hard and they needed two late goals to seal a top-flight clash with Girondins de Bordeaux with a 2-0 win at fourth-tier Lucon.
France forward Bafetimbi Gomis gave Lyon the lead with 15 minutes left and Lisandro Lopez made sure of the victory when he scored from close range after initiating a quick counterattack with a minute to go.
In Marseille, Le Havre offered even tougher opposition and took the early lead in the fifth minute when forward Ryan Mendes was set up from long range and ran through to shoot past goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
Didier Deschamps’ squad had their chances before the interval and they finally hit back when striker Brandao headed in a Morgan Amalfitano pass which Le Havre goalkeeper Johny Placide failed to claim.
Le Havre, France’s oldest professional team, could have stunned their hosts in the last minute, but midfielder Alexandre Bonnet missed an opportunity in front of an empty net.
Midfielder Amalfitano finally gave Marseille the lead during extra-time with a powerful shot from outside the box and Loic Remy scored a last-minute goal.
Also on Sunday, third-tier GFCO Ajaccio knocked out Ligue 2 Troyes thanks to a second-half goal by Mickael Colloredo.
Foued Kadir scored either side of the interval to help top-flight Valenciennes recover from a goal down to beat second-tier Bastia, who were down to 10 men.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two