There are beautiful people in the last four of the Coupe de la Ligue. Unsurprisingly, Paris, Lyon and Lille won on Wednesday 8 January, respectively against Saint-Etienne (6-1), Brest (3-1) and Amiens (2-0), in the quarterfinals to join Reims, who had obtained his qualification the day before.
During the draw for the semi-finals Thursday, PSG will necessarily be the club to avoid for the three other contenders for the succession to Strasbourg, holding the title eliminated Tuesday by Reims on penalties (0-0, 4 tab to 2 ).
Mercilessly against Stéphanois reduced to ten after half an hour of play, Paris, the most successful club in the competition, is two victories from winning its ninth League Cup, for the last edition of this competition, which is set to disappear at the end of the season in the face of the little enthusiasm it arouses in stadiums and the media.
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One way Paris
Against Saint-Etienne, the pitch confirmed the pre-match a priori: Paris was more than one step ahead. From the second minute, Mauro Icardi opened the scoring, deceiving Jessy Moulin in a tight corner. Wesley Fofana excluded for a second yellow card after a trip on Angel Di Maria in the race for goal, PSG had all the space to express themselves.
Neymar, launched marvelously by Di Maria, scored the second Parisian goal with a soft rolled strike (39th), before the defense of the Greens scuttled on a comical billiard shot between two defenders, the post and his goalkeeper Jessy Moulin (44e). The second period was one-sided with the second and third goals of Icardi (49th, 57th), that of Kylian Mbappé (67th), despite the reduction of the gap on a two-time penalty from Yohann Cabaye, a former Parisian player (71st).
Thomas Tuchel, the German coach of PSG, welcomed the qualification and the mood displayed by his players: "We never stop playing with intensity right now. Neymar, for example, helped Juan Bernat, that’s the spirit you need to be dangerous and balanced like a real team. We have the best players but we are also the best team, we play with a lot of collective effort. "
Lyon dreams of reliving 2001
For its part, worn by the duo Moussa Dembélé-Houssem Aouar, Lyon who won the League Cup only once in 2001, qualified despite a very average performance before Brest. Dembélé gave OL the advantage in the 19th minute with a left cross shot in front of goalkeeper Donovan Léon's exit after an Aouar pass.
The former Celtic striker scored his 13th goal of the season in all competitions, giving credence to comments made earlier today by President Jean-Michel Aulas rejecting the idea of starting this winter.
In addition to his assist and goal, Aouar, who brought the score 2-0 in the 55th minute by taking a cross from Kenny Tete in the 55th minute, also signaled himself with a shot hitting the crossbar and then a great opportunity just before the break.
Faced with an adversary who left the holders at rest, Lyon still gave no guarantees on its ability to reach, by May the podium of the French championship, without reinforcements from the January transfer window .
The defense, like the duo Joachim Andersen-Jason Denayer, still appeared hesitant in the face of somewhat fierce opposition. The disagreement of the two central defenders with goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu could already have allowed Gaëtan Belaud to score (33rd) while Samuel Grandsir finally took advantage of Denayer's slowness to reduce the gap despite a closed angle (2-1, 86th ). But at the very end of the game, the Brazilian Jean Lucas still ensured the qualification of Lyon from a right shot (3-1, 90 + 1).
This is what Rudi Garcia, the Lyon coach, will remember above all about the evening. " We scored three goals, which is good. I would have done well to cash one. The important thing was to be in the semi-finals. We will be a match of the possibility of a final and being able to win a trophy but in half we will have to be much better to qualify ", he said after the match.
Lille assumes its rank
In Lille too, the hierarchy was respected. From the start of the game, the Losc took control of the operations and dominated Amiens without creating any real danger. The scenario is complicated for visitors shortly before half-time with the exclusion of the South African midfielder Bongani Zungu, who receives a second warning for a sole on Jonathan Bamba (38th).
Upon returning from the locker room, the Mastiffs are quick to take advantage of their numerical superiority. It is first Araujo who opens the scoring a few seconds after shooting the post: on a corner, it is served at the corner of the surface and shoots from the left a superb shot which comes to lodge in the opposite skylight of Matthew Dreyer (1-0, 50th). A few minutes later, Osimhen put an end to all suspense by scoring the second goal: served in the area by Boubakary Soumaré, he eliminated former Lille native Aurélien Chedjou with a hook and flattened (2-0, 58th).
The last half hour is marked by an undivided domination of Losc, which however does not manage to increase the score despite attempts by Araujo (69th), Renato Sanches (76th) or Loïc Rémy, who finds the post (89th ).
The Northerners reach this stage of the competition only for the fourth time in 26 editions after 2013, 2015 and 2016, when they lost in the final against Paris SG. Christophe Galtier was not at the time on the Lille bench but the northern coach already has his preferences for the next round: "The ambition is to win the semi-final. If we were fortunate enough to receive and avoid the ogre, that would be good! "" No need to specify who was targeted …
