PARIS: Fourth division SAS Epinal sprang a Coupe de France shock on Wednesday, the amateurs from the Vosges mountains knocking out top-flight Lille 2-1 to join Paris St Germain, 2-0 winners at Pau, in the quarter-finals.
The come-from-behind upset matched fellow fourth-tier amateur outfit Belfort’s shock defeat of Ligue 1 Montpellier on penalties 24 hours earlier.
Loic Remy put Lille into an early lead against the minnows who had ended Reunion islanders’ JS Saint-Pierroise’s dreams of becoming the first team from a French overseas territory to reach the last 16.
And they continued their adventure by hitting back hard in the second half with a double from Jean-Philippe Krasso.
PSG ensured they did not get spellbound by the magic of the Cup at third division Pau.
Goals from Leandro Paredes and Pablo Sarabia either side of halftime were enough to earn the champions victory over their hosts, who caused a big upset in the previous round by knocking out top-flight Girondins Bordeaux.
Mauro Icardi led the line and had a hand in both goals, chesting into Paredes path for the Argentine’s volley midway through the first half before cutting back a cross that was diverted towards Sarabia for a close-range finish.
PSG, beaten in last season’s final, have won the competition a record 12 times, two more than Olympique de Marseille who also progressed with a 3-1 home win against an aggressive Strasbourg side which finished the match with 10 men.
Marseille’s right-back Bouna Sarr showed just why he started his career as a right winger, collecting the ball on the halfway line and slaloming past four players before finishing confidently in the 32nd.
Playmaker Dimitri Payet coolly slotted home a penalty in the 43rd to make it 2-0 at Stade Velodrome, before Benjamin Cornet gave the visitors hope when he pulled a goal back in the 59th.
But after Strasbourg center half Abdallah Ndour was sent off near the end, Payet expertly dribbled his way from midfield to the edge of the penalty area on a counterattack and set up defender Boubacar Kamara in the fifth minute of injury time.
Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2020
