Coupe de France Recap: Nice Advance in Tight Win and More!
Other Competitions
OGC Nice secured their spot in the Coupe de France Round of 16 with a 1-0 victory over Ligue 2 side Bastia in the latest installment of the Mediterranean Derby on Tuesday night at Stade Armand Cesari.
It was a scoreless first half, but Bastia recorded nine total shots and had an opportunity to take a 1-0 lead right before halftime. Amine Boutrah won a foul in the penalty area for I Turchini and took the penalty kick himself.
Boutrah's right-footed shot to the bottom left corner was saved by Nice goalkeeper Maxime Dupé in the 45th minute to keep the contest scoreless. In the second half, Le Gym took advantage of their scoring chance to take a 1-0 advantage.
Mohamed-Ali Cho scored in the 61st minute on a right-footed shot from very close range to the bottom right corner off an assist by Evann Guessand. The goal from Cho would be all Nice needed to secure the win over Bastia in a tightly contested matchup.
After the match, Nice manager Franck Haise spoke at his press conference and spotlighted how his team handled adversity to secure the win in a hard-fought derby match.
"The first half mindset wouldn’t have been enough to secure qualification—we needed to step it up. At halftime, I told the team to focus on playing real football. In the end, what matters most in the Coupe de France is getting through, and I was prepared for this kind of challenge."
Coupe de France Round-Up
FCSR Haguenau vs. USL Dunkerque
The matchup between these two sides was postponed as the referee considered the pitch unplayable and dangerous.
SU Dives-Cabourg 1-0 Le Puy Foot 43 Auvergne
The lone goal of the match came in the 66th minute from Florian Suzanne and it was enough for Dives-Cabourg to secure the win to advance to the next phase of the Coupe de France.
Le Mans 1-1 Valenciennes FC (4-3 on penalties)
After the two sides stayed level 1-1 following the 90 minutes, the contest would be decided in a penalty kick shootout with Le Mans winning 4-3 to advance.
En Avant Guingamp 2-2 FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (9-8 on penalties)
Both squads scored two goals in the 90 minutes of action and the matchup would be decided on penalty kicks with Guingamp winning the shootout 9-8.
Photo credit: @OGCNice_ENG
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