10 Ligue 1 clubs on the mat at the round of 16 stage. The warning was clear for Paris Saint-Germain as they closed this round of the Coupe de France against Espaly, a National 3 club. This did not prevent Luis Enrique from fielding a second, or mixed, team, with the young Axel Tape in central defense alongside Lucas Hernandez, or even Zague and Mayulu. And the warning sounded powerfully from the 3rd minute of play. Mezaber overflowed on the left side and a blocked cross which lobbed Arnau Tenas, established in the cages. Gjeçi could catapult the ball with his head into the back of the net (1-0, 3rd).
The perfect start for Lionel Vaillant’s players, who took the Parisians cold. The latter reacted through Désiré Doué, who missed his duel against Etienne, the Espaly goalkeeper (17th). PSG pushed more and more but Etienne held the house on a shot from Mayulu, after a cross from Barcola (30th). Logically, PSG got back on track, and it came from a dry strike from Zaire-Emery at the edge of the area (1-1, 37th). But he couldn’t break away before the break.
Espaly made PSG doubt
Returning from the locker room, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and Kang-In Lee came directly into play, replacing Fabian Ruiz, Zague and Mayulu. But Espaly did not let himself be impressed, even managing to offer himself a few sequences of possession. Parisian domination was established despite everything, but there was a lack of speed in the sequences, and precision in certain controls, notably for Barcola. Kang-In Lee alerted Jordan Etienne of a long shot (63rd). PSG finally found the fault, with a good deep ball from Neves for Barcola who crossed in front of the goal for Doué’s finish (1-2, 67th).
Enough to be safe? Well no! Espaly found resources to equalize. Allaigre overflowed on the right and crossed in front of the Parisian goal. The young Tape cleared too slowly and Fournel emerged to beat, in two stages, Tenas (2-2, 71st)! Enough to delight the public, who were dismaying the Parisians after this surprise equalizer. This made the N3 players forget the fatigue, remarkable for their self-sacrifice, who didn’t give up. But the Coupe de France does not always smile on the little ones, and it was Barcola who delivered PSG in the 88th, by taking a cross from Nuno Mendes (2-3). Gonçalo Ramos even increased the score from the penalty spot (2-4, 90+3rd). PSG suffered in unexpected proportions but finally validated their ticket for the next round.
