PSG are out of the French Cup after losing to Marseille. Which teams are through to the quarter-finals?

On Wednesday, the eight-final matches of the local football cup were scheduled in France. Olympique Marseille won 2:1 against PSG to reach the quarter-finals. Which other teams are continuing in the Coupe de France?

Le Classique, as French football’s biggest showpiece is known, kicked off at 21:10 at a packed Stade Vélodrome. From the start, the game was played at a good pace with interesting offensive actions on both sides.

But gradually in the first half the home side gained more dominance on the pitch and were much more active in terms of shooting. The Parisians threatened mainly from quick counter-attacks.

The offensive effort paid off for coach Igor Tudor’s charges when head referee Letexier awarded a penalty kick in the 30th minute after a foul by Ramos. Alexis Sánchez then made no mistake from the penalty spot and sent Olympique into the lead with a cross to the right post.

The visitors tried to equalise before the break. Messi tried dangerously from a standard situation and his shot flew just wide of Pau López’s goal, as did Neymar, whose shot hit the bar.

It was only in the set-up that PSG got their chance. After a corner kick, Sergio Ramos scored with a precise header. The teams went into the cabins tied.

In the 57th minute, Ruslan Malinovskyi gave Marseille the lead back. He got to a deflected ball on the edge of the box and his hard shot from the first shot stopped in the net behind Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Coach Christophe Galtier’s team conquered the opponent’s goal in vain in the ensuing period, even failing to create a major scoring opportunity due to well-defended opponents. And when Ramos sent the ball over the goal line for the second time in the set five minutes, his joy was thwarted by an offside penalty.

Olympique Marseille withstood the final pressure and celebrated a 2-1 victory to reach the quarter-finals. This is its first win over PSG since September 2020.

The other eight-final matches

Already from 18::15 the other matches of the French Cup Eight Finals were played. An attractive encounter was seen in Lyon, where the Lille players managed to erase the two-goal lead that the home side had built up early on. Olympique, however, did not allow a turnaround as they won 3:2 after penalties.

In another duel between the first league teams, ex-Slav Sima scored in the sixth minute, but it was not enough for Angers to win against the defending champions from Nantes.

Mollet equalised in the 87th minute. The home side eventually lost 1:2 after a penalty shootout. The same result ended the match of the clubs from Ligue 2, in which Paris FC lost to the footballers from Annecy.

Toulouse were the clear winners, beating Reims 3-1. Auxerre, the penultimate team in the top flight, lost 2:3 to second-placed Rodez.

Vierzon from the fourth league failed to make a surprising move into the top eight as they were narrowly beaten 0:1 by another Ligue 2 side. Nestor scored the only goal for Grenoble.

Lorient and Lens will play for a place in the quarter-final stage of the Coupe de France on Friday. The opening whistle will blow at 9pm.

Source: Coupe de France, Nova Sport 3