Thursday, March 22, 2012

Coupe de France Quarter Finals

Quevilly 3 - 2 Marseille

The 16th placed team in the third tier handed OM their 7th straight defeat; it was not a weak Marseille side selection-wise, I thought the amateurs (literally) would flag in extra time but they got the winner in the last minute after keeper Bracigliano dropped a clanger. Bracigliano will be the keeper against Bayern btw, as Mandanda is suspended. DiDi had a go at the ref, the OM president had a go at DiDi, OM could be back to the 'meltdown' setting on their season.
Suggested headline: Norman Conquest

GFCO Ajaccio 1 - 0 Montpellier

Gah. This was a weaker Montpellier team sent to Corsica to battle third-tier opposition (although Gazelec are currently 2nd and look likely to come up) which is probably understandable given the thinness of the squad and the importance of the league, but it was a risk that didn't come off. A bad-tempered match, with Gazelec pouncing better on their chances.
Suggested headline: En Corse for the Semi-Finals

Valenciennes 1 - 3 Rennes

It was 1-1 at half-time, but Kadir (VFC) was sent off on 42mins for attempting to break M'Vila's leg (he's OK), and they just couldn't put anything together after that. Pretty comfortable for Rennes.
Suggested headline: Je ne regrette Rennes

PSG 1 - 3 Lyon

Nene opened the scoring after a harshly given penalty (Umtiti handball, but there was very little he could have done about it), Lyon equalised with a superb freekick from Kallstrom, and then went ahead from Lisandro (who later missed an absolute sitter); 1-2 Lyon at halftime, and the story of the second half was 'Olympique Lloris' as PSG piled on the pressure and the shots. PSG have been getting key goals at the last minute a lot recently, and looked likely to do it again (which would have made Remi Garde's defensive stockpiling substitution approach problematic in extra time), but it was Lyon who got one at the death, another penalty after Jallet clattered Michel Bastos. If Lloris plays like that for France...
Suggested headline: Lloris the Lyon-Heart

Semi-final fixtures (10 April, 19.30 GMT ):
Quevilly v Rennes
GFCO Ajaccio v Lyon