My Coupe runneth over: To be cool, you gotta wait 122 minutes to score the game’s first goal

By: Sam | January 21st, 2007

The last 32 of the Coupe de France saw not many upsets. I mean, argh, only one team from a lower division then its opponent won. Talk about boring to write about.

But hey, some came close. Like, say, a team from the fifth tier getting the first goal against Lyon. And Niort coming one penalty short of booting Bordeaux out. But nope. Which just means there’s going to be some high-quality matches in the next round.

But this weekend, when Marseille visited Le Mans in the most anticipated match of the round, an intense back-and-forth match that saw three posts, two disallowed goals and a whole lot of gasps, the victors were decided in stoppage time of the second half of extra time. Franck Ribéry’s corner found Mamadou Niang’s head to see OM through after a crazy contest that could have gone either way in the blink of an eye.

The magical, mighty, fearsome, formidable Laon were playing host to some team named Lyon on the same day. And, as you might expect, the home side got the first goal from the world-renowned Kaufmann. But for the surprise of the night, Clerc, Govou and Fred mounted the comeback to see their side through. Props to Laon for giving them a scare that lasted just about six minutes before Lyon equalized.

In the other match that featured two Ligue 1 teams, Monaco coolly eliminated visitors Toulouse, thanks to two impressive goals by Camel Meriem. 2-nil, final score.

Granted, Paris-SG didn’t have the biggest job to do as they hosted Ligue 2’s Gueugnon. But Kalou’s sole goal did the essential, and Paul Le Guen’s first victory as PSG’s coach was an important one as the club’s confidence went up just a bit.

Oh, and just so you know, next round will have MARSEILLE against LYON. Whatever.
Other scores: Amiens (L2) 1-3 Nantes; Calais (CFA) 1-2 Sedan; Sochaux 2-1 Lyon-La Duchère (CFA); Clermont (Nat) 1-0 Rodez (CFA); Bordeaux 3-3 (5-4 pso) Niort (L2); Pontivy (CFA) 0-2 Montceau (CFA); Romorantin (Nat) 1-2 Valenciennes; Orléans (CFA) 1-3 Lens; Montpellier (L2)1-1 (4-2 pso) Nice; Jarville (CFA2) 3-5 Libourne Saint-Seurin (L2); Bois-Guillaume (L2) 1-1 (5-6 pso) Vannes (Nat); Strasbourg (L2) 2-3 Lille;