Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled the strings as Paris
Saint Germain cruised into the French Cup semifinals on Wednesday with a 3-1
away win at Saint Etienne.
The result saw PSG bounce back from their first
domestic defeat in a year, a 2-1 league loss at Lyon at the weekend, with goals
from Edinson Cavani, Marquinhos and late substitute Lucas.
Ahead of their crucial Champions League return
match at Chelsea next week however key midfielder Blaise Matuidi limped off
with a thigh injury in the second half.
Paris coach Laurent Blanc had told his players
their weekend performance was not good enough and had demanded application,
which he seemed happy with afterwards.
"It's difficult to win here. But really it's
rare you see a team win so easily at Saint Etienne," he told French
television.
"PSG warranted their win. It's an experienced
side, and even if they went missing at Lyon they showed up and did a job
tonight."
Ibrahimovic carved open the home defence for the
opener on 12 minutes with a perfectly weighted pass which his Uruguayan strike
partner Cavani ran onto and smacked home with great relish.
The giant Swede was at the heart of the second goal
on 35 minutes too when Marquinhos tapped in at the far post after a fine team
move, as a vicious cross from Ibrahimovic was flicked on toward the back post
by Cavani.
A spirited Saint Etienne, pumped up by 36 000
boisterous fans, hit back when a Valentin Eyserric penalty reduced the arrears
to 2-1 just before the break.
PSG were easing out the game when late substitute
Lucas dribbled past several defenders and fired home the clincher two minutes
into added time.
Defending champions PSG have won the Coupe de
France on nine occasions, second only to arch-rivals and ten-time winner
Marseille, who play fifth tier Granville on Thursday.
In an all top-flight quarterfinal earlier
Wednesday, Lorient, on the back of two league wins, cruised past Gazalec
Ajaccio 3-0.
After first half goals from Romain Philippoteaux
and Maxime Barthelme, Pape Paye finished the job with a late strike.
The shock of the evening came when second division
Sochaux made the semifinals when they put an end to top flight Nantes' 16-game
unbeaten run.
Nantes had been leading for most of the game before
Moussa Sow got an equaliser in the 87th minute to send the game into
extra-time.
Substitute Sekou Cissé made it 2-1 against the run
of play before Sow sealed the win for the former Peugeot factory side and
despite a late consolation from the Brazilian Adryan Socahux are into the final
four.
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