(Football news) Paris Saint-Germain’s disappointing start to this year continued when they were knocked out of the French Cup in the last 16 by bitter rivals Marseille on Wednesday. Marseille, had only beaten PSG twice since the capital side were taken over by Qatar Sport Investment (QSI) in 2011 but now have reached the quarterfinals thanks to an Alexis Sanchez penalty and a Ruslan Malinovskyi thunderbolt strike after Sergio Ramos’ first-half equaliser was cancelled out by the Marseille players.
PSG have now gone on to lose three times already in 2023 and the Cup defeat comes a week before they take on Bayern Munich in their Champions League last-16 first leg. With their main man Kylian Mbappe being injured, he will now miss the Bayern clash as PSG struggled to cope with Marseille’s pressure. The French giants took the lead in the 31st minute when Sanchez converted a penalty after Cengiz Under was brought down by Ramos, giving the hosts a deserved lead after a very lively start. Ramos made up for his earlier error as he headed home Neymar’s corner into first-half stoppage time, shortly after the Brazilian had hit the post from 18-metres.
The Velodrome stadium came to life when Malinovskyi, who recently joined on loan from Atalanta last month, beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a brilliant half-volley from just outside the box that went into the top corner. Ramos had a goal disallowed for offside in added time in what was a nail-biting finale as Marseille defended with heart in the end. Elsewhere, Lyon got knocked out by Lille 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. AJ Auxerre were beaten 3-2 at home by Ligue 2 side Rodez, who have advanced after scoring with all three of their attempts on target as the draw for the quarter finals will take place on Thursday.
According to captain Marquinhos, they will now need to “shut [their] mouth and work” to bounce back.They pressed high and we did not manage to break the lines. It hurts because it was a Cup game against our great rival,” Marquinhos added.
Marseille coach Igor Tudor revelled in their victory.”Amazing guys, they’re champions. It’s awesome for the club,” he said.
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