ASM thought they had done the hard part by knocking out Lens in the first half hour with goals from Wissam Ben Yedder (18th), Jean Lucas (26th) and Sofiane Diop (29th), but Wesley Saïd (45th) and Arnaud Kalimuendo (53rd) gave the players of the Rock a cold sweat, who however managed to take shelter at the end of the match by the inevitable Ben Yedder (88th).

Philippe Clément's players join Marseille, Nantes, Amiens (L2), Bastia (L2) and amateurs from Bergerac (N2) and Versailles (N2) in the quarter-finals.

Paris SG and Nice will compete for the last ticket on Monday (9:15 p.m.).

A week after their defeat in Montpellier in the league (3-2), the Azureans reacted well and were full of confidence before challenging Lyon on Saturday during the next day of L1.

Pushed by its boiling public, very noisy despite the reduced capacity to 5,000 spectators, the RCL started the meeting with a beating drum and imposed heavy pressure on ASM in the first ten minutes.

Seko Fofana lit the first fuse, with a long shot that Vito Mannone deflected on his crossbar (5th), and shortly after, it was Gaël Kakuta who stumbled on the Azurean goalkeeper on a center back from Florian Sotoca (8th).

The Rock players eventually woke up and after a save from Kevin Danso, who threw himself into the area to counter a strike from Ben Yedder (16th), they knocked out the Artesians in just over ten minutes.

Dubbed Ben Yedder

Indeed, the second opportunity was good for the Monegasque captain, who headed a cross from Caio Henrique (0-1, 18th).

Then Lucas, served by Gelson Martins, pierced Jean-Louis Leca (0-2, 26th).

Finally, on a school counter, the Brazilian turned into a passer for Diop, who tripled the lead (0-3, 29th).

The Sang et Or did not give up and they were rewarded just before the break: on a long shot from Kakuta, Mannone pushed the ball away and Saïd took it twice to put it in the bottom and give it back hopes to his own (1-3, 45th).

As soon as the restart, Lens put pressure on Monaco, which was quick to crack: served by Fofana on the right side, Kalimuendo, who came into play after returning from the locker room, reduced the score with a nice curling shot from the left (2-3, 53rd).

AS Monaco captain Wissam Ben Yedder scored twice against RC Lens in the Coupe de France in Bollaert, January 30, 2022 FRANCOIS LO PRESTI AFP

The Lensois then pushed and had several chances, but Kakuta made Mannone shine (60th), then did not find the frame (70th), while Jonathan Clauss, on a distant free kick, forced the Riviera goalkeeper to deflect the ball for a corner (74th).

Finally, Kalimuendo shot just wide (84th).

In the meantime, Monaco could have taken off again but Diop shot above (58th) and Leca had a firm hand against Ben Yedder (73rd).

The Monegasque captain, however, managed to shelter his team at the very end of the game (2-4, 88th) from a cross shot from the left.

© 2022 AFP