Ligue 1 strugglers En Avant de Guingamp beat much-fancied AS Monaco 3-1 after extra-time in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France on Wednesday to set up a final with Brittany rivals Stade Rennais.
Mustapha Yatabare’s opener was canceled out by Dimitar Berbatov as the match at a packed Stade du Roudourou finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, but goals by Fatih Atik and Yatabare again in the second period of extra-time clinched a famous win for the hosts.
Guingamp now meet Rennes at the Stade de France on May 3 in a rerun of the 2008-2009 final, which a Guingamp side then in the second tier won 2-1.
Photo: AFP
Meanwhile, the defeat will do little to help Monaco coach Claudio Ranieri’s prospects of staying in the job beyond the summer at a time when his future is the subject of much speculation.
The principality club’s billionaire majority shareholder Dmitry Rybolovlev was in attendance at the Stade du Roudourou hoping to see the tournament favorites keep alive their chances of winning major silverware for the first time since their Coupe de la Ligue triumph in 2002-2003.
However, it was Guingamp, who remain in danger of relegation from Ligue 1 having lost their past four matches, who got off to a dream start, taking the lead inside six minutes.
Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero has only really been given his chance to impress in the Cups this season and he was once again selected by Ranieri, but he was too slow in coming to collect a Steeven Langil free-kick and Yatabare pounced to score.
Monaco slowly grew into the game, though, and they drew level nine minutes before the interval, Berbatov applying the finish to a low cross by Fabinho.
However, Guingamp were the better team and they were unlucky not to win the match in the 90 minutes, with substitute Ladislas Douniama seeing a superb strike touched onto the bar by Romero, before the referee dismissed loud appeals for a penalty in stoppage-time when Ricardo Carvalho appeared to handle inside the penalty area.
They were not to be denied in extra-time, though, with the unmarked Atik netting the crucial second goal in the 112th minute.
Romero got a touch to Atik’s first-time effort from a Thibault Giresse left-wing cross, but he could not keep it out, and there was nothing the goalkeeper could do when the hosts broke forward and Giresse set up Mali striker Yatabare to score his second of the game, his 18th of the season, with three minutes of extra-time left.
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