Holders Paris Saint-Germain labored to a 1-0 win at fourth-tier ES Wasquehal on Sunday to reach the round-of-32 of the Coupe de France, while Olympique Lyonnais and AS Monaco recorded thumping victories over amateur sides.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic headed home a Marco Verratti cross on the hour mark in far northern France as the runaway Ligue 1 leaders maintained their unbeaten domestic run this season.
PSG coach Laurent Blanc rested several key players, including Angel di Maria, Edinson Cavani and Thiago Silva, but still fielded a strong team that included the likes of Ibrahimovic, Verratti, Blaise Matuidi and Thiago Motta.
“Getting back into competition is always the hardest part, even more so with the tricky weather conditions,” Blanc said after PSG’s first competitive game following France’s short winter break, during which they traveled to Qatar for a training camp. “We would have liked to have played better to wrap things up earlier and make things easier, but we weren’t capable of doing that this afternoon. The most important thing is to move on and we’ve done that.”
Elsewhere, Lyon made a promising start under new coach Bruno Genesio as Maxwell Cornet and Rachid Ghezzal both scored twice, with Claudio Beauvue, Sergi Darder and Corentin Tolisso also on target in a 7-0 hammering of fifth-division Limoges.
Monaco hit double digits with a crushing 10-2 defeat of seventh-tier Saint-Jean Beaulieu in a local derby as Lacina Traore scored four first-half goals before he was sent off for a halftime altercation.
In an all top-flight tie, Olympique de Marseille won 3-1 on penalties away to Stade Malherbe Caen after a tie that remained goalless through 90 minutes and extra-time in Normandy.
Marseille, who have won the competition a record 10 times, but not since 1988-1989, survived having Dutch defender Karim Rekik sent off in the second half to progress as goalkeeper Steve Mandanda saved three spot-kicks in the penalty shootout.
AS Saint-Etienne were given a scare by US Raonnaise, as the Ligue 1 side were taken to penalties following a 1-1 draw, eventually prevailing 4-3 in a shootout against their fifth-tier opponents.
Girondins de Bordeaux came from behind to beat third-tier Etoile Frejus Saint-Raphael 3-2, with Diego Rolan grabbing a stunning 90th-minute winner for the visitors after Cheick Diabate had twice leveled for Willy Sagnol’s side.
Montpellier Herault, who saw Pascal Baills and Bruno Martini take joint control of the first team after the resignation of Rolland Courbis last month, edged past fifth-division RC Epernay Champagne 1-0 courtesy of a second-half goal from Mustapha Yatabare.
Benjamin Jeannot scored an extra-time winner for Lorient as they overcame Ligue 2 outfit Tours 3-2, Lille OSC scraped past AC Amiens 1-0 and En Avant de Guingamp were comfortable 4-0 winners at US Chantilly.
The draw for the next round was due to take place yesterday before the final round-of-64 tie, an all Ligue 1 affair between OGC Nice and Stade Rennais on the Cote d’Azur.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
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Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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