Paris Saint-Germain got the better of fellow Ligue 1 side Toulouse as they eased into the round-of-16 of the Coupe de France with a 3-1 victory at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
With Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspended, Kevin Gameiro was chosen to lead the hosts’ attack and he took less than 10 minutes to put PSG in front when he applied an easy finish to Ezequiel Lavezzi’s cross.
The visitors drew level soon after when Franck Tabanou headed home, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side missed chances to retake the lead before the break and eventually ran away with the tie in the second period.
Jeremy Menez, a halftime replacement for Gameiro, played a decisive role as he first set up Javier Pastore to make it 2-1 in the 48th minute and then slid in Lavezzi, whose cool clipped finish ended the contest.
Earlier, faltering Ligue 1 champions Montpellier Herault were knocked out by top-flight rivals Sochaux-Montbeliard.
Montpellier twice squandered a lead before losing 3-2 after extra-time at home to Sochaux, with substitute Yassin Mikari netting the visitors’ winner in the 107th minute.
The Cup exit is the latest piece of bad news for Montpellier, who were knocked out of the Coupe de la Ligue by Stade Rennais last week, before losing 3-2 at Olympique de Marseille in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Also on Wednesday, AS Nancy-Lorraine won 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw away to OGC Nice.
Enduring a miserable season, Ligue 1 strugglers Nancy had not won against top-flight opponents since August and they were initially denied the victory when Dario Cvitanich scored for Nice seven minutes into stoppage-time to force an extra half hour.
However, they eventually triumphed from the spot in a match played in front of a largely empty stadium as supporters boycotted in protest at the kickoff time, mid-afternoon on a Wednesday.
Meanwhile, AS Saint-Etienne hardly covered themselves in glory in their tie away to sixth-tier CS Meaux.
Remarkably, the minnows held on at 0-0 until the end of extra-time, despite having a man sent off in the 35th minute, but eventually succumbed 5-3 in the shootout.
Top-flight duo Girondins de Bordeaux and Stade Brestois 29 both came from behind to win their ties away to lower-league AS Moulins and CA Bastia respectively.
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