Doué and Barcola Shine as PSG Charge into Coupe de France Quarter-Finals with Victory Over Le Mans

On Tuesday, Paris St Germain secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France, defeating third-tier side Le Mans 2-0 thanks to goals from Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola, who both found the net in each half.

Le Mans nearly created an upset early on when Gabin Bernardeau found Theo Eyoum unmarked in the penalty area, but Eyoum’s shot struck the side netting.

In an effort to stifle the unbeaten Ligue 1 leaders, who have gone without defeat since November, Le Mans adopted a defensive posture. It wasn’t until the 17th minute that PSG registered their first attempt on goal, with Lee Kang-in sending an ambitious shot sailing over the bar from distance.

PSG capitalised on a defensive blunder by Le Mans in the 25th minute. A wayward pass from Alexandre Lauray was intercepted by Goncalo Ramos at the edge of the area, setting up Doue, who found the bottom left corner with precision.

Right before the half-time whistle, Le Mans was awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area, but Lauray’s attempt was blocked by the wall, and his follow-up shot narrowly missed the near post.

Barcola came on for Doue in the 68th minute and quickly made an impact, scoring merely three minutes later. He latched onto a floated ball from Nuno Mendes, broke into the Le Mans box, and finished expertly at the near post.

PSG nearly added to their tally a minute after Barcola’s goal, but Le Mans goalkeeper Ewan Hatfout produced a great save to deny Achraf Hakimi.

Undeterred, Le Mans pressed for a goal of their own just before the 90-minute mark, but Dame Gueye’s acrobatic attempt from Zaid Amir’s cross was thwarted by the alert Matvey Safonov.

In other matches, Dunkerque advanced to the quarter-finals by edging out top-flight Lille on penalties following a 1-1 stalemate, while Brest overcame Ligue 2 outfit Troyes with a 2-1 victory.

Next, PSG will host third-placed Monaco in a crucial Ligue 1 encounter on Friday.