AS Monaco qualified for the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France with a 3-4 win at Marseille after a rollercoaster game.
With the clock ticking close to midnight, AS Monaco finally booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France by edging out Olympique Marseille 3-4, in a real rollercoaster of a match at the Orange Vélodrome. The fixture pile-up in recent weeks left Leonardo Jardim with little choice but to tweak his starting line-up, with Nabil Dirar coming in on the right wing and Jorge making his first appearance.
After a cagey opening quarter-hour, Joao Moutinho set the visitors on their way as his free-kick cannoned back off the post and struck Pelé before rolling into the net (0-1, 18 mins). Despite coasting through most of the rest of the first half relatively untroubled, Leonardo Jardim’s men were caught out just before the break, as Dimitri Payet found space in the area to fire home an acrobatic volley (1-1, 43 mins).
EPIC ENCOUNTER
The equaliser set the tone for the evening, as the teams traded goals in ping-pong fashion. Kylian Mbappé met a fine cross from Mendy superbly to put the Monegasques back in front (65 mins). But recent substitute Cabella snatched another equalizer for OM to send the game to extra-time (84 mins). Set up perfectly by Mbappé after a lightning break, Benjamin Mendy thought he’d settled matters in the 104th minute. But yet again, the home side fought back, with Cabella once more leveling the scores to restore Marseille hopes (3-3, 110 mins).
But the visitors seemed unbeatable, and it was Lemar who finally put a crazy game to bed, running onto Mendy’s lovely cutback to slam home an unstoppable strike from the penalty spot. The former Marseille man had an excellent evening, with a goal and two assists, while his teammates once again demonstrated their firm intention to aim for glory on all fronts this season. AS Monaco will face either Lille or Bergerac in the quarter-finals.
Source: www.asmonaco.com
