Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday required extra-time to overcome third-tier Villefranche-Beaujolais 3-0 in the round-of-16 of the Coupe de France.
Holders and record 12-time champions PSG were held in check at Olympique Lyonnais’ Groupama Stadium until Julian Draxler bundled in a cross from substitute Edinson Cavani on 102 minutes.
Moussa Diaby and Cavani sealed the victory late on after both were set up for simple tap-ins by Kylian Mbappe, who came on for Angel di Maria with an hour gone.
Photo: Reuters
PSG host Dijon FCO in the quarter-finals as they bid to win the competition for a fifth consecutive time.
Thomas Tuchel’s side face Girondins de Bordeaux at home in Ligue 1 at the weekend before traveling to Old Trafford on Tuesday next week for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League tie with Manchester United.
“It’s normal to have the match against Manchester United in one corner of your head, even if we’re trying to go step by step,” PSG defender Marquinhos said. “You saw the coach looked to rest some players to best manage the squad. We’re thinking about the important dates coming up.”
Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes made his first start for PSG after his arrival from Zenit St Petersburg for a reported 47 million euros (US$54 million).
“He played well, he was very reliable in the middle. He didn’t lose the ball. He had a lot of quality in his passes. It wasn’t easy and he was very good,” Tuchel said of Paredes.
PSG are without Brazilian forward Neymar for both legs of the round-of-16 clash with United after the world’s most expensive player suffered an injury to his right foot last month.
Elsewhere, Jordan Siebatcheu scored twice, including a 91st-minute winner, as Stade Rennais came from behind to defeat Lille OSC, who had Adama Soumaoro sent off after just 19 minutes.
Fourth-tier AS Vitre reached the last eight for the first time in their history after a stoppage-time penalty completed a remarkable 3-2 victory, having trailed third-tier AS Lyon-Duchere by two goals.
Olympique Lyonnais, who snapped PSG’s unbeaten Ligue 1 run at the weekend, were due to visit En Avant de Guingamp in the final of the round-of-16 games yesterday.
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
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
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
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