Paris Saint-Germain’s domestic dominance continued on Wednesday when the Qatar-backed club qualified for the French League Cup quarter-finals by knocking out holders Olympique de Marseille with a 2-0 win at the Parc des Princes.
Thiago Silva converted a spot kick after l’OM were reduced to 10 men before the break and Jeremy Menez wrapped it up in the second half as PSG smoothly advanced.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side took full advantage after Marseille defender Rod Fanni was shown a straight red card in the 28th minute for a foul on Menez in the box.
Thiago Silva converted the resulting penalty by wrong footing Steve Mandanda and Mareseille, who won the last three editions of the competition, barely bothered the hosts.
Menez made it 2-0 five minutes into the second half, firing home from close range after collecting a brilliant Javier Pastore through-ball.
PSG were joined in the last eight by Montpellier Herault and OGC Nice on Wednesday.
French champions Montpellier needed just one Jonathan Tinhan goal to prevail 1-0 at home to Girondins de Bordeaux, who failed to level the match after Cyril Jeunechamps was sent off eight minutes from time.
Olympique Lyonnais were knocked out 3-1 at Nice, conceding three goals in the first 15 minutes.
Bafetimbi Gomis canceled out Valentin Eysseric’s opener, only for Mahamane Traore and Renato Civelli to score for Nice in the ninth and 15th minutes respectively after some awful defending by the visitors.
The SC Bastia-AJ Auxerre game was called off because of bad weather, with the French League having yet to set another date.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set