Caen dump out amateur side to make French Cup last 16

Paris (AFP) – Caen ended the run of plucky sixth-tier amateurs Viry-Chatillon with a 6-0 rout in the last 32 of the French Cup on Wednesday, while Dijon thumped top-flight rivals Saint-Etienne 6-3 in the snow.

Viry-Chatillon had upended Ligue 1 outfit Angers in the previous round, but they were thrashed by Caen as Yacine Bammou and Saif-Eddine Khaoui were among the scorers on the outskirts of Paris.

An emotional Bammou raised his hands towards the sky after his early goal, in tribute to former Nantes team-mate Emiliano Sala whose plane disappeared over the Channel Islands on Monday as the striker was on his way to join his new club Cardiff City.

A group of Caen supporters, for whom Sala spent the second half of the 2014-15 season on loan, fastened a banner that read “Emiliano” to a fence surrounding the pitch.

Nantes’ Cup game against third-division side Entente Sannois Saint-Gratien has been postponed from Wednesday until Sunday.

Naim Sliti scored a hat-trick as relegation-threatened Dijon avenged last month’s league defeat by Saint-Etienne at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

Jules Keita, Julio Tavares and Jordan Marie also found the net for the visitors as Dijon won for the first time under new boss Antoine Kombouare, while Rennes overcame fourth-division Saint-Pryve 2-0.

Holders Paris Saint-Germain host Strasbourg later on Wednesday at the Parc des Princes as they continue their bid for a fifth straight title in the competition.