Marseille and Lyon labour to French Cup wins
Reuters - Sunday 22 January 2012, 22:43
Olympique Marseille avoided
a shock home loss to second division Le Havre by scoring twice
in extra-time to reach the French Cup last 16 with a 3-1 win on
Sunday.
The 10-times Cup winners struggled after the Ligue 2 team
took an early lead before putting together a combination of
tough defence and lightning counter-attacks.
Earlier, Olympique Lyon were also made to work hard and
needed two late goals to seal a last-16 top-flight clash with
Girondins Bordeaux with a 2-0 win at fourth division Lucon.
France forward Bafetimbi Gomis gave Lyon the lead with 15
minutes left and Lisandro Lopez made sure of victory when he
scored from close range after initiating a quick counter-attack
with one minute to go.
Lyon struggled to create clear-cut chances throughout the
first half but had many opportunities after the interval
although they had luck on their side when Lucon struck the
woodwork five minutes after Gomis's opener.
In Marseille, Le Havre offered even tougher opposition and
took the early lead in the fifth minute when forward Ryan Mendes
was set up from long range and ran through to shoot past goalkeeper
Steve Mandanda.
Didier Deschamps' squad had their chances before the
interval and finally came back when Brazilian striker Brandao
headed in a Morgan Amalfitano pass which Le Havre goalkeeper Johny
Placide failed to catch.
Le Havre, France's oldest professional team, could have
stunned their hosts in the last minute but midfielder Alexandre
Bonnet missed an opportunity into an empty net.
Midfielder Morgan Amalfitano finally gave Marseille the lead
during extra-time with a powerful shot from outside the box and
France Loic Remy scored a last-minute goal.
Marseille will travel to fourth division Bourg-Peronnas, who
dumped out Ligue 1's bottom side Ajaccio, in the last 16.
Also on Sunday, third division GFCO Ajaccio, who have
already beaten Ligue 1 Toulouse, knocked out Ligue 2 Troyes
thanks to a second-half goal by Mickael Colloredo.
Algerian Foued Kadir scored either side of the interval to
help top-flight Valenciennes recover from a goal down to beat
second division side Bastia who were down to 10 men.