Lens beat Lorient in shootout to reach French Cup quarterfinals

Lens players celebrate at the end of their round of 16 French Cup football match against FC Lorient at THe Moustoir Stadium in Lorient, western France on Feb 9, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 10 February 2023
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Lens beat Lorient in shootout to reach French Cup quarterfinals

  • Lens will visit Cup holders Nantes next month in the only quarterfinal game between two top-tier teams

LORIENT, France: Facundo Medina converted the final spot kick to send Lens to the French Cup quarterfinals in a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Lorient after the teams were tied 1-1 in regulation time Thursday.

The visitors took the lead in the 21st minute when Angelo Fulgini tapped home after goalkeeper Vito Mannone had palmed a cross from Ismael Boura into the path of the Lens midfielder.

Lorient midfielder Enzo Le Fee leveled the round-of-16 game with a dipping free kick in the 84th to force a penalty shootout.

All the Lens players converted their spot kicks while Le Fee hit the bar before Ibrahima Kone had his penalty saved by goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca.

Lens will visit Cup holders Nantes next month in the only quarterfinal game between two top-tier teams.

In the other quarterfinal games, Marseille will host Annecy, Grenoble will visit Lyon, and Toulouse will face Rodez.

Sitting in third place in the French league, Lens shuffled their starting lineup by making seven changes ahead of a tough game against Lyon this weekend.

Lens had an opportunity to double the lead on the stroke of halftime, but Mannone turned David Pereira da Costa’s low strike around the post.

Lorient, who won the French Cup in 2002, raised its game in the second half. But Leca saved Le Fee’s long-range strike in the 51st and palmed away a curling shot from Yoann Cathline in the 67th.


Sudan beat Equatorial Guinea for rare AFCON win

Updated 16 sec ago
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Sudan beat Equatorial Guinea for rare AFCON win

  • Unlucky Torino center-back Coco saw the ball come off him and ricochet into the net in the 74th minute

CASABLANCA: Sudan boosted their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations after a Saul Coco own goal gave them a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea on Sunday.

Unlucky Torino center-back Coco saw the ball come off him and ricochet into the net in the 74th minute in Casablanca when his teammate Luis Asue attempted to clear a Sudan free-kick.

Sudan won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1970 but this is just their second victory in 18 matches across six appearances at the tournament since then.

They lie 117th in the FIFA world rankings, compared to Equatorial Guinea in 97th.

The win leaves Kwesi Appiah’s team on three points from two games in Group E, while Equatorial Guinea have lost both matches so far.

Sudan are competing at this AFCON in Morocco despite the country having been devastated since war broke out between the army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023.

They will play Burkina Faso in their last group game on Wednesday and will be aiming to reach the knockout stages of the Cup of Nations for just the second time since that 1970 triumph — they got to the quarter-finals in 2012 before losing to eventual winners Zambia.