At this stage of the competition, there are often “big” names who start to fall. The round of 16 of the Coupe de France 2021-2022 was no exception to the “rule”. Some of the Ligue 1 clubs (the first division of the elite of national football), which had entered the competition in the previous round, saw the adventure come to an end on Sunday, January 2.
Bastia and Nancy leave Clermont and Rennes
These are two league 2 clubs, Bastia and Nancy, which created the surprise. Two clubs which, however, in the league, are not in the most comfortable situation: Nancy is the red lantern of the second division championship and Bastia is relegation.
However, at home, the Bastiais were more enterprising than their opponents of the day, Clermont, rival of the upper echelon. they won 2-0. At the break, the Clermontois had not had the slightest frank opportunity, with a single strike, not on target.
For Nancy, everything was played against Rennes, 4th in Ligue 1, during a final penalty shootout. The Rennais had opened the scoring in the 58th minute, but the Lorrains returned to equality twenty minutes later. 78th. ” This game should have been over at half-time, that’s not acceptable. This match should never have gone on penalties ”, regretted Stade Rennes coach Bruno Genesio. During the penalty shoot-out, it was Baptiste Valette, Nancy’s goalkeeper, who, with three saves (4 tab to 3) allowed his team to qualify.
“In the Cup, when a small one faces a big one, you need a good goalkeeper, success, a bit of opposing clumsiness and when you have a chance, put it to the bottom. This is what we got! It is not logical given the content of the match, but we take it “, savored Benoît Pedretti, the Nancy coach.
No miracle for Bordeaux in Brest
There was no miracle. Bordeaux, seriously diminished by the multiplication of cases of Covid-19 in its ranks (twenty-one players affected), was eliminated, Sunday, January 2, by Brest (3-0), in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France de soccer.
The Girondins had made the trip to Finistère with only seven of their usual professional players and thirteen youngsters.
Bordeaux conceded a penalty in the 35e minute: his young defender Tijany Atallah, 18 years old and not the slightest minute disputed with the professionals, came late in the area on Romain Faivre.
A second penalty, conceded at 81e minute, came to destroy any hope of a return to the score of the Bordelais, the Brestois definitively pushing the corner by scoring a third goal at the very end of the match (90e+4).
“It’s a positive game overall. Unfortunately we conceded a little stupid penalties nevertheless tried to make Vladimir Petkovic the coach of Bordeaux positive, while stressing that“There was a noticeable physical difference” for its young players.
In recent days, the club management had tried in vain to postpone this meeting, but the French Football Federation (FFF), organizer of the competition, had been inflexible.
To avoid any package from Bordeaux or from another club affected by Covid-19, the FFF however relaxed its regulations on Friday by suspending on an exceptional basis the article requiring the presence “On the scoresheet of at least seven players who took part in one of the last two official matches played by [l’]first team “, thus allowing a club to draw more widely from its reserve team and its youth teams.
Nantes without shaking too much
Another Ligue 1 club, FC Nantes, did not tremble too much, but if it took a bit of a struggle. At home, against Vitré, a club playing in National 2 (the fourth division), the Canaries dominated the match and secured their qualification by winning 2-0. But they did not open the scoring until the 25e minute, before going definitely out of range at 68e minute. “It is a deserved qualification but which took a long time to take shape, recognized Antoine Kombouaré the Nantes coach. We weren’t able to score faster and worsen the score. Vitré knew how to make the suspense last. At the slightest relaxation, we could have been punished ”.
Montpellier pushes aside Strasbourg
Semi-finalist of the Coupe de France last season, Montpellier won 1-0 against Strasbourg. The Montpellier residents scored thanks to their defender Mihailo Ristic with a powerful strike from 25 meters. Strasbourg thus stumbles for the second time in a row on Montpellier: in January 2021, the Alsatian team fell to Meinau (2-0) in the 32nd final.
AS Cannes (National 3) – Toulouse (Ligue 2): 0-1
Versailles 78 (National 2) – La Roche VF (National 3): 4 – 0
Bergerac (National 2) – Créteil (National 1): 0-0, 5 tab to 4