Two-time Coupe de France winners Stade Rennais reached the final of this season’s competition with a nervy 3-2 win over Ligue 2 side Angers SCO on Tuesday.
Rennes, who won the Coupe in 1965 and 1971, will hope for better luck in the final on May 3 than their last visit to the Stade de France in last season’s French League Cup final, where they lost 1-0 against AS Saint-Etienne.
Rennes — who are in a lowly 14th position in Ligue 1 — came from a goal down early on to lead 3-1, but a penalty a minute from time by Mohammed Yattara, who had also scored their opener, made it a nervous last few minutes for the Brittany hosts.
Photo: AFP
However, they safely negotiated the dying stages to deprive Angers of what would have been their second appearance in the final, the first occasion being in 1957 when they were beaten 6-3 by Toulouse.
Angers — who are in the mix for promotion to Ligue 1 — got off to a fantastic start when Yattara put them ahead in the third minute.
However, the hosts leveled on the quarter-hour mark as Swedish international midfielder Ola Toivonen netted his seventh goal since arriving from Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven for 2.5 million euros (US$3.45 million) in the January transfer window.
Photo: AFP
Two further goals from Polish midfielder Kamil Grosicki and Cameroon veteran Jean II Makoun put les Rouges et Noir firmly in control and apart from Yattara’s late penalty, they were rarely troubled by Angers down the stretch.
Rennes will play the winners of the second semi-final between Ligue 1 title contenders AS Monaco and struggling En Avant de Guingamp.
“It is good to be in the final, but the championship is our main preoccupation,” said Rennes coach Philippe Montanier.
Photo: AFP
“If we can quickly assure ourselves of staying up and win the French Cup that will be a good result for a transitional season,” added Montanier, who has found life difficult in his first season since joining from Spanish side Real Sociedad where he was named La Liga coach of the year.
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Manchester City have confirmed defender Josko Gvardiol suffered a broken leg in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. Gvardiol was one of two City centerbacks who went off injured in the second half, along with Ruben Dias, before Enzo Fernandez scored a stoppage-time equalizer for the visitors. The draw left second-placed City six points behind English Premier League leaders Arsenal. City, announcing Gvardiol sustained a tibial fracture to his right leg, added in a statement issued on Monday: “The defender will have surgery later this week and assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
RSS