Valenciennes puts an end to Rouen’s journey and reaches the semi-finals

They had succeeded in eighteen of their nineteen attempts in the previous two sessions. A new penalty shootout exercise could not impress Rouen (FCR), a National club, which went for an equalizer against Valenciennes (Ligue 2) – on a penalty! – in the last minute of his Coupe de France quarter-final, Wednesday February 28.

And yet, the Normans finally gave up during their third consecutive penalty shootout with the failures of Mustapha Benzia, whose shot was repelled by Jean Louchet, and Zana Allee, who found the crossbar.

The epilogue is cruel for the FCR which had been very attractive in the two previous rounds and had successively taken out the defending champion Toulouse (3-3, 12-11 tab) and Monaco (1-1, 6-5 tab). This time, the Rouennais never seemed able to ignite the match, an observation which owes a lot to the very serious and controlled game of the Valenciennes, last in Ligue 2 and almost condemned to relegation, with their 15 points behind on maintenance.

Normandy’s countless technical inaccuracies nipped many of their offensive opportunities in the bud, and on the rare occasions when the locals managed to threaten the opposing goal, Louchet, the usual number two in the northern cages, shone. He notably made an incredible save at the 40^e minute, on his line, pushing away with his thigh and hand a rebound from Valentin Sanson at the far post.

Valenciennes found the fault

The Hainaut players didn’t really offer an offensive festival either, but they alternated much better between rapid transitions and combinations in set play. After a first alert on a shot from Siriné Doucouré with a rebound, well repelled by Léonard Aggoune (12^e), Valenciennes found the fault on a perfect cross from Souleymane Basse cut at six meters by Mathias Oyewusi, who smashed the ball with his head (1-0, 26^e).

At the 87^e minute, after recovering the ball close to the surface, the Malian striker from Valenciennes Siriné Doucouré saw his shot boxed by Léonard Aggoune who kept his team alive.

And who knows what went through Knockaert’s head when, in the 90^e minute, after a corner pushed back by his defense, he attempted a sombrero and a turn rather than clearing, but he ended up causing a penalty by hitting Bouzamoucha rather than the ball. On Damien Loppy’s penalty, although it was poorly taken and initially repelled by Louchet, the defense did not follow, letting the Rouen attacker take over to equalize (1-1, 90+1), and force a penalty shootout. to the ultimately fateful goal (4-2 for Valenciennes).

“We got through it a little”

” Obviously, [on éprouve] disappointment for the guys. What I told them, straight away, was that we lost the match in the first half.”recognized Rouen coach, Maxime d’Ornano. “The only regret is not having relaxed them enough. We got through it a little, we were a little contracted, we made a lot of technical errors”he noted.

“I am proud of what they didlaunched for his part the Valenciennes coach, Ahmed Kantari. We all know the difficult times we are going through and, believe me, to mobilize and put in the match they did in the current period, I take my hat off to them. »

The northern club joins Lyon in the last four for its fourth semi-final in the competition, the last dating back fifty-four years. On Thursday, the Tom Thumb of the competition, Le Puy (National 2), faces Rennes, Ligue 1 club. And on Wednesday March 13, Paris Saint-Germain will host Nice in an elite shock.