 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
French Roundup Almost half top flight teams crash out of CupPosted: Sunday January 05, 2003 2:57 PMPARIS (Reuters) -- Racing Strasbourg, winners in 2001, and Troyes were humiliated by small amateur teams on Sunday to bring to nine the number of first division clubs eliminated in the first round of the French Cup. Strasbourg lost 1-0 at fourth division Bourg-Peronnas and nine-man Troyes went down 3-1 away to Schiltigheim of the fifth division, for whom striker Hinard scored twice. Sedan were also eliminated, 3-1 on penalties at third division Martigues following a goalless draw after extra time. Paris St Germain had to fight hard to overcome another third division side, beating Besancon 1-0 after extra time with a goal by defender Lionel Potillon, who unleashed a 25-metre winner in the 111th minute. Troyes had defender Karl Tourenne sent off in the 70th minute with the score already 2-0 to Schiltigheim and Frederic Adam was dismissed seven minutes from time. Both were shown the red card after their second bookable offences. Reigning champions Olympique Lyon and five-time winners Monaco were the first to bow out to teams from lower divisions on Saturday in a competition which has traditionally proved to be something of a graveyard for the French elite. Giant killers Lyon slumped to a 1-0 clumsy defeat to fourth division amateurs Libourne Saint-Seurin, giant killers for the second season in a row after reaching the quarter-finals last season. "We tamed a team which played in the Champions League. We really prepared for this match and even if I'm a bit surprised by the outcome, it was not unexpected at all," Libourne coach Jean-Marc Furlan said. Monaco, 2-1 up seven minutes from the end of normal time at second division Wasquehal, were forced into extra time and ended up losing 3-2. "The guys refused to give in and they believed they could make it until the very last minute," said Wasquehal coach Herve Gauthier. "You can only see things like that in the French Cup." Also on the casualty list were in-form Nice, Sochaux and Montpellier, who all lost to second division sides on Saturday. Nice went down 4-2 to Metz at home following a goalless draw after extra-time. It was sweet revenge for Metz, whose relegation last season was determined by Nice's successful appeal against demotion on financial grounds. Amiens upset Montpellier 5-3 after extra time while Sochaux, reduced to 10 men for an hour, were beaten 2-1 by Grenoble. Olympique Marseille, record 10-time winners, had a relatively quiet passage to the second round, beating Bastia 2-0 at home in the only tie between two first division clubs. "This success is a good thing. We are now back on the right track and it's exactly what we were looking for as January is going to be decisive," Marseille coach Alain Perrin said. The debacle of the top flight sides in the French Cup followed their failure in European club competition. Only the young AJ Auxerre side, who won 2-1 at second division Caen on Saturday, are still in the UEFA Cup after RC Lens, Paris St Germain, Girondins Bordeaux and Lyon were all eliminated. Year begins with another setback for doubt-ridden LyonLYON, France (Reuters) -- The new year has begun just like the previous one finished for doubt-ridden Olympique Lyon who slumped to a clumsy 1-0 defeat to amateurs Libourne in the first round of the French Cup. The French champions bowed on Saturday to the fourth division club who had made a reputation as giant-killers by reaching the quarter-finals of the competition last season after taming Lille and Metz. Libourne scored their winner through captain Regis Castant who took advantage of a blunder by Brazilian defender Edmilson with just 15 minutes to go. The defeat was yet another blow for Lyon after their elimination by Turkey's Denizlispor in the third round of the UEFA Cup last month followed their failure to reach the second group stage in the Champions League. The string of defeats has forced Lyon to review their ambitions downwards with only their defense of the league title and the League Cup left. Lyon are fifth in the French first division, trailing leaders Olympique Marseille by two points after 20 games. "I'm both disappointed and upset by such a result," Lyon coach Paul Le Guen said after Saturday's tie. "Our performance was well below the par and on top of that we made inadmissible mistakes. "We should have been more aggressive and we should have not lost." 'Team overrated' Lyon had to do without inspirational captain Sonny Anderson, playmaker Eric Carriere and solid defenders Claudio Cacapa and Christophe Delmotte, all out because of injuries. But Le Guen refused to consider these absences as an excuse for the loss. "[Libourne] were waiting for us and they were up for it. We didn't prove ourselves. We should have played on a higher tone, we should have showed more will to go through," he said. "We were too weak mentally. I can take some of the blame but I want everybody else to take some part of it. The team is rather overrated." The French champions will have to swiftly bounce back as next weekend they host league leaders Marseille, who boosted their morale with a 2-0 home win over Bastia in their first round tie. Lyon also visit in-form Sochaux in the second round of the League Cup later this month. "We will have to be very solid against Marseille. We will have to show some pride," said defender Patrick Muller. Another setback would add some extra pressure on Le Guen who took over from Jacques Santini, who steered Lyon to their first ever league title in May before taking over as France's national team coach. But Le Guen, whose contract runs until June 2004, got a vote of confidence from Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas, who said: "Paul Le Guen looks a lot like Arsene Wenger. He is the right man to build a team."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
