Paris (AFP) – French league leaders Monaco recovered from a dramatic second-half meltdown as they threw away a three-goal lead before beating third-tier Chambly 5-4 after extra time in the French Cup last 32 on Wednesday.
Holders Paris Saint-Germain eased into the round of 16 with Julian Draxler scoring twice in a lopsided 4-0 win at Ligue 1 rivals Rennes.
Monaco had cruised into a 3-0 lead early in the second half in northern France after goals from Guido Carrillo, Thomas Lemar and Kylian Mbappe, but the visitors were rocked as Chambly pulled two goals back before equalising in stoppage time.
However, the five-time champions regained the lead in extra time when Kevin N’Doram bundled in from a corner, with Poland international Kamil Glik then making it 5-3 on 103 minutes.
Chambly again threatened a miraculous comeback as they halved the deficit with nine minutes remaining, but this time Leonardo Jardim’s Ligue 1 title chasers held firm.
“We achieved our goal. It was a difficult match. We played well during the first half of extra time and that allowed us to go through,” said Jardim.
“We were scared but we got a goal and then a second one at the start of extra time and that put an end to the match.”
In Brittany, Draxler applied a deft chipped finish from Thiago Motta’s long ball over the defence to hand Unai Emery’s men a 27th-minute lead against Rennes.
Lucas then tapped home a low cross from Hatem Ben Arfa shortly before the break while Draxler grabbed his second on 68 minutes with a crisp strike from the edge of the area.
Ben Arfa rounded out a thumping victory late on with his first goal since August, with the draw for the next round to decided on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Dimitri Payet made his Marseille debut, for the second time, after returning to the Stade Velodrome following his acrimonious departure from West Ham in a deal worth a club-record 30 million euros.
Brazilian defender Doria struck the winning goal on the south coast in extra time as last year’s finalists Marseille prevailed 2-1 to take their place in the last 16.
