Coupe de France Round-Up: Lille Crash Out To Colmar, Montpellier Eliminated By Grenoble

The Coupe de France produced a couple of Saturday shocks, with Ligue 1 high fliers Lille and Montpellier crashing out...

By Robin Bairner

Coupe de France : Guy Feuthcine (Colmar)
1/32 Finals (fixtures involving Ligue 1 sides only)

Saturday, January 23, 2010 (all kick-off times CET)

15:00 Grenoble Foot38 3-2 Montpellier (aet)
15:00 Colmar 0-0 Lille (Colmar win 10-9 on penalties)
17:30 Racing Club de Lens 1-0 Compiegne
18:00 Saint-Louis-Neuweg 0-1 Sochaux

Colmar 0-0 Lille
(Colmar win 10-9 on penalties)

The big story in the Coupe de France came in Colmar, who eliminated a virtually entirely second string Lille outfit.

For the opening 25 minutes, the home fans were treated to an open game, in which their side gave almost as good as they got. Robert Vittek and Larsen Toure both had good early efforts for les Dogues, though Colmar also offered some resistance, with a strong penalty shout turned down and Pape Dieye missing a decent early opening.

There would be far fewer opportunities after the break, though again it was a relatively balanced affair. One frantic minute would see the hosts leave Ludovic Butelle’s crossbar shuddering before Stephane Dumont cleared the rebound from the line.

Four minutes from the end of stoppage time Vittek hit the home post, before a marathon penalty shootout would ensue. Each player had shot at goal before the decisive move was made by the amateurs.

Grenoble Foot38 3-2 Montpellier
(aet)

Ligue 1’s second placed outfit, Montpellier, crashed out of the Coupe de France at the Stade des Alpes, knocked out of the competition after two hours of football at the Stade des Alpes.

A strong start to the match from MHSC was largely due to the excellence of Alberto Costa in the heart of their midfield, dangerous from set-plays and keen to strike from distance. Ultimately it would be Victor Hugo Montano who gave the guests the lead, striking home from 12 yards after he had been fouled in the box.

Grenoble moved in stoppage time at the end of the first period, Diasuke Matsui’s quick thinking drawing them level.

After the break the game only came alive late on. Danijel Ljuboja seemed to have the match won when he scored after 82 minutes, steering home from distance, but Karim Ait Fana quickly replied, penetrating the defence with his speed before beating Ronan Le Crom.

GF38 were not to be denied, Nassim Akrour’s extra-time thunderbolt firing them into the last 32.

Racing Club de Lens 1-0 Compiegne


Amateur side Compiegne made life awkward for Ligue 1 visitors Lens, but they didn’t have enough to progress in the Coupe de France.

In the early stages of the game it was clear that the visitors would be content to sit back in the early stages of the match, though theu were effective in their task, shutting down their opponents impressively. Indeed, a Stephane Chretien header had home goalkeeper Hamdi Kasraoui seriously worried.

But Lens would punish a slip by the hosts, when it came. Toifilou Maoulida won possession in the visitors’ box and struck positively enough towards goal to induce a deflection from Chretien, which ended up in his own net.

The second half would be disappointing for Lens as they never really pressed home their advantage, though they held out easily enough against their game but limited opponents.

Saint-Louis-Neuweg 0-1 Sochaux


A very young Sochaux side did just enough to tiptoe into the last 32 of the Coupe de France on Saturday evening, dispatching minnows Saint-Louis- Neuweg.

After 30 minutes the hosts would have been quite content with their early defensive showing, which had limited their opponents to no meaningful occasions. A left wing cross from Stephane Dalmat proved to be the catalyst of the only goal of the game, Sloan Privat turning it home impressively.

Privat and Edouard Butin both threatened with headers from corners at the start of the second period, but the guests were posing little discernable threat to the hosts, who would continue their resolute stance of simply defending.

Jeremy Anatole had the hosts’ only real chance, but Mathieu Dreyer shut him out, preserving les Lionceaux’s face as they moved through in an economical fashion.

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