AS Monaco routed second-tier Racing Club de Lens 6-0 on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the Coupe de France and keep their outside hopes of a league-and-cup double on track.
Monaco coach Claudio Ranieri, whose side are 10 points behind runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain in the Ligue 1 title race, made six changes from the team’s last outing against LOSC Lille Metropole at the weekend, but the changes made little difference to the outcome against a Lens team who are second in Ligue 2 and seeking a return to the top flight.
Argentine winger Lucas Ocampos scored Monaco’s opener after 17 minutes and added his second of the night in the 69th minute.
Photo: AFP
Dimitar Berbatov, Emmanuel Riviere, Fabinho and Geoffrey Kondogbia were also on target for Monaco.
In the semi-finals, to be played on April 15 and 16, Monaco face En Avant de Guingamp, while second-tier Angers SCO meet either Stade Rennais or LOSC Lille Metropole, who were due to clash in yesterday’s remaining quarter-final.
Guingamp reached the last four with a 2-0 win over AS Cannes, who had put out AS Saint-Etienne and Montpellier Herault in earlier rounds, with Mustapha Yatabare scoring two late second-half goals.
Amateur side Cannes’ hopes of an upset were dented eight minutes from the end of the first half when Lucas Roubah was sent off for a crunching tackle on Claudio Beauvue.
On Tuesday, Angers ended amateurs AS Moulins’ hopes with a 4-2 penalty shootout win.
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