PSG, Lyon win in French Cup; Le Puy, Red Star cause upsets
PARIS (AP) — Star striker Kylian Mbappe scored twice as French Cup holder Paris Saint-Germain won 3-0 at Brest to join Lyon in the last 16 on Saturday.
Brest coach Olivier Dall’Oglio made the surprising decision to rotate key players and paid the price as Mbappe netted his first after only nine minutes.
Pablo Sarabia drilled a shot into the bottom corner one minute before the break, after a fine run from Julian Draxler prompted Brest's defense to make a mistake.
Marco Verratti then set up Mbappe for his second goal in the 74th.
Earlier, Lyon beat second-tier Sochaux 5-2 with 17-year-old attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki scoring twice and creating a goal for central defender Jason Denayer.
Defender Djamel Benlamri and winger Maxwel Cornet scored Lyon's other goals for a 2-0 lead after just 10 minutes. Sochaux striker Chris Bedia netted twice either side of Cherki's first goal to make it 3-2 to Lyon after 56 minutes.
RISING STAR
Cherki is touted as the next big star of French soccer and he almost scored an outstanding goal with a David Beckham-style shot from just inside the halfway line, but the goalkeeper scrambled back to save it.
Cherki's corner from the right was headed powerfully in by Denayer in the 77th and Cherki netted with a cool and emphatic finish 10 minutes later.
CUP UPSETS
Fourth-tier Le Puy and third-tier Red Star caused Cup upsets by beating first-division sides.
After Red Star won 3-2 at home to Lens, tiny Le Puy followed up by handing Lorient a 1-0 loss to add to its relegation problems.
Northern side Lens is fifth in the top flight, and led 2-1 with seven minutes left only for two substitutes to send Parisian-based Red Star through.
Midfielder Diego Michel equalized in the 83rd minute before Alan Dzabana scored a timely first goal for the club with a last-minute winner.
“Bravo to Red Star. We need to accept this defeat and focus on the league. Maybe we thought we had done the hard work (at 2-1 up),” Lens coach Franck Haise said. “They stayed in the game, they kept believing.”
Dzabana joined Red Star this season on loan from Le Havre.
Lenny Joseph, a 20-year-old midfielder, netted in the 61st for semi-professional side Le Puy, which is in south-central France's Auvergne region, more famed for its hearty cuisine than its soccer.
OTHER MATCHES
Montpellier squeezed through 2-1 away to third-tier Ales, thanks to a late winner from striker Gaetan Laborde.
But Metz, which is sixth in Ligue 1, had a comfortable afternoon winning 4-0 at second-tier Valenciennes.
Fourth-tier Rumilly Vallieres, which plays against Marseille, Monaco and Lyon's reserve sides in its division, knocked out third-tier Annecy on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
SUNDAY'S GAMES
Lille is at fourth-tier Corsican side GFC Ajaccio, while Marseille visits another fourth-tier side in Canet-en-Roussillon.
Marseille's veteran goalkeeper Steve Mandanda and its goal-scoring winger Florian Thauvin have been rested for the match.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports