Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday made light of Neymar’s absence in beating En Avant de Guingamp 4-2 to secure their ticket to the Coupe de France last 16 as Edinson Cavani was made to wait for his club-record goal.
Despite PSG’s dominance, Cavani failed to get on the score sheet as he pursues a record 157th goal, but it was not for a lack of trying, as he failed to convert a hatful of chances.
The Uruguayan striker is on the verge of becoming PSG’s all-time scorer after drawing level with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s benchmark in the 8-0 rout of Dijon FCO last week.
Neymar left the pitch after that Ligue 1 outing angered at booing directed at him from Parc des Princes fans when he stepped up to take a penalty rather than allowing Cavani a shot at the record.
The world’s most expensive player was missing from PSG’s 2-1 loss at Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday and again for this tie due to what the club called “a pain in his right thigh.”
Another high-profile absentee was Kylian Mbappe, who was stretchered off after a clash with Lyon’s Anthony Lopes.
“He’s fine, we’ll see if he can return on Saturday, but I hope he’ll be ready at the latest for Lille [OSC on Feb. 3]. It was a hard knock and the risk is getting another blow,” Emery said.
Adrien Rabiot opened the scoring for PSG in the 21st minute, followed smartly by Lucas Deaux’s own-goal, with Javier Pastore and Marquinhos completing the round-of-32 win after the break.
Marcus Thuram and Yeni Ngbakoto were on the mark in either half for Guingamp from the penalty spot.
Elsewhere, Lyon edged AS Monaco 3-2.
Steven Jovetic opened the scoring for Monaco, but Betrand Traore quickly leveled, with Mariano Diaz bagging a double.
Rony Lopes gave Monaco hope, but Lyon held on to join PSG in the next round, along with second-division Auxerre and topflight Stade Malherbe Caen, but only on penalties from lowly fifth-division outfit Canet Roussillon.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB