Football
Associated Press 7y

Draxler scores twice as PSG beat Rennes; Chambly give Monaco scare

Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Rennes 4-0 to reach the last 16 of the Coupe de France while Ligue 1 leaders Monaco needed extra time to see off non-league Chambly in a nine-goal thriller.

Germany winger Julian Draxler scored two excellent goals on an easy night for PSG and Monaco, who played extra time with 10 men, held on to win 5-4 against a side playing two divisions below.

Since the Christmas break, PSG have won six out of seven games. Draxler has been outstanding since joining from Wolfsburg last month, with all four goals he has scored expertly taken.

He gave PSG the lead in the 27th minute, exquisitely taking down a long pass from midfielder Thiago Motta with his heel, slipping past a defender and delicately dinking the ball over goalkeeper Benoit Costil as he rushed off his line.

After Brazilian winger Lucas had made it 2-0, Draxler grabbed his second midway through the second half.

Running onto a fine pass from Hatem Ben Arfa, Draxler collected the ball on the left, drifted past two players on the edge of the area and smacked a low shot into the bottom-right corner.

Ben Arfa added the fourth late on.

Earlier, Monaco squandered a 3-0 lead as Chambly -- playing at home -- made it 3-3 in injury time, just after a red card for Monaco's Italian defender Andrea Raggi.

In extra time, midfielder Kevin N'Doram and Poland centre-half Kamil Glik seemed to have put the game out of reach, only for Chambly midfielder Romain Padovani to score and set up a tense finish.

Padovani started his career with Monaco 10 years ago, but never made it past the reserves.

Monaco have now scored 97 goals in 37 games this season and have managed at least four goals on 11 occasions. The club is competing on four fronts, as they face PSG in the League Cup final and Manchester City in the knockout round of the Champions League.

Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim rested many regulars with Saturday's league game against second-place Nice in mind.

Argentina striker Guido Carrillo got a rare start and he put Monaco ahead. Midfielder Thomas Lemar -- one of the regulars selected -- made it 2-0 in the 35th minute.

Rising star Kylian M'Bappe, the tournament's star player when France won the European Under-19 tournament last year, made it 3-0 shortly after the break.

But right-back Anthony Soubervie and midfielder Gregory Gendrey pulled goals back and, after Raggi was sent off in the 89th, Soubervie forced extra time.

Elsewhere, Corsican side CA Bastia beat Nancy 2-0 and Angers won 3-1 against Caen.

Guingamp were also taken to extra time by third-tier Les Herbiers before winning 2-1, but first division Saint-Etienne lost 3-0 in extra time away to Auxerre, which is next-to-last in the second division.

Fourth-tier Frejus are still playing after beating fifth-tier Prix-les-Mezieres 1-0, while third-tier Avranches advanced by beating fourth-tier Fleury 1-0.

^ Back to Top ^