Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as holders Paris Saint-Germain eased past Olympique Lyonnais 3-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France on Wednesday, extending the capital club’s winning run to 16 matches.
Ibrahimovic bundled in the opening goal just past the hour at the Parc des Princes, and the Swede added a second soon after as PSG began to turn the screw.
Adrien Rabiot then netted a third on 75 minutes, with Laurent Blanc’s men staying firmly on course to repeat last year’s domestic treble.
Photo: AFP
PSG will travel to six-time winners AS Saint-Etienne in the last eight, having already knocked Christophe Galtier’s side out of the Coupe de la Ligue in December last year.
“We didn’t start too well. We were a bit better towards the end of the first half, but we were much better in the second period,” Rabiot told France 3.
Blanc’s side host Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie next Tuesday, but first, they are at home to Lille OSC tomorrow.
“As of Sunday, we’ll start preparing for the game against Chelsea. The game against Lille, with all respect to Lille, is badly timed,” Blanc said. “The calendar can’t get any tighter. If you talk to me about the fixture list, I get heated, so it’s better to avoid it.”
Blanc handed Edinson Cavani, relegated to several substitute appearances in Ligue 1 since the turn of the year, a start in place of Angel di Maria, while midfielder Blaise Matuidi made way for Benjamin Stambouli. A quiet first half saw Paris fail to register a single shot on target, with Cavani wasting the home side’s best opportunity when he steered wide after Lucas picked out the Uruguayan just inside the area. Maxwell Cornet went close to giving Lyon the lead five minutes before the break, but Salvatore Sirigu flung himself to his left to brilliantly turn behind the teenager’s curling effort.
Ibrahimovic drilled narrowly wide early in the second period, but PSG’s mounting pressure eventually told on 63 minutes as Lucas burst down the left-hand side before crossing for Ibrahimovic to chest home.
The Swede struck again just four minutes later when Serge Aurier slid in a low cross from the right for Ibrahimovic, who was marginally offside, to poke beyond Anthony Lopes.
Alexandre Lacazette blazed over as Bruno Genesio’s men sought to reduce the deficit, and the visitors were understandably aggrieved when Rabiot, clearly behind the last defender, converted Maxwell’s left-wing cross to seal a fourth win in as many attempts over Lyon this season.
Earlier, Nantes came from behind in extra-time to claim a thrilling 4-3 victory at Girondins de Bordeaux, with US international Alejandro Bedoya netting a 118th-minute winner.
Saint-Etienne also needed extra-time to see off Ligue 1’s bottom side ESTAC Troyes as France Under-21 forward Neal Maupay struck the decisive blow in the 107th minute, while Lorient thumped fourth-tier US Sarre-Union 4-0.
On Tuesday, second-division strugglers Sochaux-Montbeliard knocked out AS Monaco with a 2-1 victory at the Stade Auguste Bonal, with Gazelec Ajaccio and fifth-tier US Granville — drawn against the winner of Thursday’s tie between amateurs Trelissac and Marseille in the next round — also advancing.
However, Granville goalkeeper Clement Daoudou was hospitalized following an assault at a fast-food restaurant after the match, which left him with heavy bruising and a broken nose.
“We’re shocked and outraged by what happened. It was in no case a fight, but indeed an assault,” Granville co-president Fabrice Clement was quoted as saying by regional daily Ouest France.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
Batting great Virat Kohli yesterday announced his immediate retirement from Test cricket, just days before India name their squad for a tour to England. Kohli, who scored 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85, posted his decision on Instagram five days after India captain Rohit Sharma called time on his own Test career. Since making his debut in 2011, Kohli struck 30 hundreds and 31 fifties with a highest score of 254 not out, mainly batting at number four in the order. “It’s been 14 years since I first wore the baggy blue in Test cricket,” the
RSS