Nice, second-placed in Ligue 1, gave the surprise by eliminating the almighty Paris SG (0-0, 6-5 on penalties), this Monday in the round of 16 match of the French Cup played at the Parc des Princes of the French capital.
After completing the 90 regulated minutes without goals, in the penalty shootout the young Dutch promise Xavi Simmons (18 years old) missed his shot and gave Nice the classification, which will face Marseille in the quarterfinals.
Messi used the shirt number 10 again
Without his Latin American stars and with Kylian Mbappé starting from the bench, Mauricio Pochettino lined up Mauro Icardi and Julian Draxler as Lionel Messi’s companions at the top of the attack.
Messi also took advantage of the French Cup rule that forces starting players to wear numbers from 1 to 11 to wear the shirt with 10, the number with which he achieved his greatest successes in Barcelona and Argentina.
In a poor first half with few chances, Messi had the clearest opportunity to put the Parisians ahead, controlling a pass from Verratti and connecting a left-footed shot saved by Marcin Bulka (45).
A few minutes earlier, Nice also had a chance to go ahead, in a long-range free kick by Amine Gouiri that was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma (25). The second half began with dominance by Nice and two great chances, but neither the Dutchman Justin Kluivert (48) nor Morgan Schneiderlin (69) managed to send the ball into the net.
Mbappé’s exit to the field with 25 minutes to go gave the Parisian attack a little more bite, although it was two defensive players, Presnel Kimpembe and Leandro Paredes, who were the closest to scoring.
A corner headed by the French international center-back took him off the line Hicham Boudaoui (71) and a shot by the Argentine midfielder from 20 meters was saved by Bulka (90+3) to force penalties (in these rounds of the French Cup there are no overtime ).
Precisely, Paredes missed his shot from eleven meters, but PSG avoided elimination as Andy Delort also missed for Nice. But after Simmons’ failure in the 14th shot, PSG no longer had room to react and Nice took the classification to the quarterfinals, where they will face Marseille, according to the draw made this Monday, in what will be the most attractiveness of the next round.
This is how the French Cup continues
In the semifinals there will be a fourth category team, since the two survivors of ‘amateur’ football, Bergerac and Versalles, were paired in the same tie. In the other two duels, teams from Ligue 1, Monaco and Nantes, will face teams from the second division, Amiens and Bastia, respectively.
SPORTS
with AFP
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