Olympique de Marseille has dealt another blow to its struggling rival, Paris Saint-Germain, knocking the 14-time Coupe de France winner out of the cup tournament after a 2-1 victory by Les Olympiens.
Marseille’s last French Cup title was in 1989, but a thundering goal from outside the box early in the second half from Ukrainian forward Ruslan Malinovskyi, on loan from Atalanta, turfed the record winners out of the competition and set the southern French squad into the quarterfinals.
Alexis Sánchez converted a penalty in the 31st minute after Sergio Ramos’ foul on Cengiz Ünder – but the Spanish defender managed to equalize at the end of the half by heading in a corner from Brazilian star Neymar. Ramos, ultimately, could not save the day as his potential goal in extra time was disallowed for offside.
Even with Lionel Messi and Neymar on the pitch, PSG couldn’t get past 10-time cup winner Marseille, which hasn’t lifted the trophy in more than 30 years.
“Amazing guys, they’re champions. It’s awesome for the club,” Marseille boss Igor Tudor said of his squad post-match, per Reuters.
It’s the third loss this year for PSG, which faces a Round of 16 first-leg match against Bayern Munich in the Champions League next week without injured superstar Kylian Mbappé.
Captain Marquinhos added that the team would need to “shut (their) mouth and work” to bounce back, per Reuters.
“They pressed high and we did not manage to break the lines. It hurts because it was a Cup game against our great rival,” Marquinhos added.
