Paris (AFP)

The "big guys" entered on Sunday in the sixteenth finals of the Coupe de France - Rennes, Angers and Montpellier - all quietly triumphed over their opponents in the lower divisions, namely Athlético Marseille, Rouen and Caen respectively.

Even in the Ligue 1 duel between Dijon and Nîmes, the victory returned to the top-ranked. At home, the Burgundians have crunched the Nîmes "Crocos" 5-0, with four goals scored in the last quarter of an hour.

While waiting for the evening poster (20.55) between Lorient and Paris SG, leaders of Ligue 2 and Ligue 1, the round of 16 has so far been stingy with surprise. Only Pau (National) and Belfort (National 2) dropped bigger than them, namely Bordeaux on Thursday and Nancy on Saturday ...

Sunday, there was no photo for example between Rouen (N2) and Angers, easy 4-1 winners of the Normans yet supported by a sold-out Robert-Diochon stadium.

"We fight and we win together," announced the Rouen supporters in the stands. Unfortunately for them, an Angevin passed and overturned everything: Farid El Melali signed a clinical double (19th, 23rd) with the help of Rachid Alioui, scorer (3rd) and double passer.

The strong goal of Rouennais Adama Sidibé (13th) therefore did not waver for a long time the SCO, current tenth of L1 which has not lost since December 7 in Rennes. And Stéphane Bahoken (81st) hit the nail on the head.

- Caen is flowing -

The Rennais, for their part, did not really suffer at Fos-sur-Mer, where they gained the upper hand over Athletico Marseille (2-0), the ex-GS Consolat who slipped into the 5th division after two successive demotions.

Hamari Traoré (24th) then Raphinha (45th + 1) took the hit in the first period and the Marseille club, who fell from Rodez (L2) in the previous round, did not recover. The match was interrupted twice, the first time for cracked smoke and the second for bottle jets.

The Bretons, defending champions, will be able to look serenely towards the next trip to Nice on Friday in Ligue 1, from the top of their third place in the league.

Montpellier, sixth of L1, also did not tremble to dismiss Caen (5-0), close to the bottom of the table in Ligue 2.

Having struggled 1-0 in the previous round Reims Sainte-Anne, club of Regional 1, the Hérault took place in the first period with achievements by Téji Savanier (24th) from the penalty spot, Gaëtan Laborde (37th) and Andy Delort (40th) .

And the Caen team led by Pascal Dupraz, outnumbered the entire second period, sank a little more under the blows of Florent Mollet (59th) and Delort (64th).

The draw for the knockout stages will be carried out Sunday evening after the match between Lorient and Paris, that is to say before the last round of 16 pitting Monday fans of St-Pryvé St-Hilaire (N2) with the stars of Monaco.

© 2020 AFP