Unai Emery hailed Paris Saint-Germain's patience as they saw off Amiens SC to reach the Coupe de la Ligue last four while AS Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim was delighted as his side qualified for the semi-finals.
Wednesday, January 10, 2017
Amiens SC 0 - 2 Paris Saint-Germain
Christophe Pélissier (Amiens coach): "We knew that it would be very difficult with 11 against 11, so the match is virtually over with ten. During the first half-hour, we were compact, but after that we had to play for an hour with ten men. There was a lot of headwind: the injury, the red card, the penalty…that's a lot. But there were positive responses in terms of the commitment and attitude of my team. The players were really tested, and I have to praise the courage of my side, who faced up to the challenge to the end."
Unai Emery (Paris Saint-Germain coach): "We're very happy, because we're going to play a Coupe de la Ligue semi-final. Our opponents opted for a tactic of rather closing the game down. We put in a serious display. We were quickly with a man over and - with patience - we worked to score the first goal. Little by little, the match turned in our favour. Amiens pushed, but we didn't give them many chances. So we're through to the semi-finals, and I think we deserved it, just like the other three teams still in it. In the next round, we'll meet Rennes again. Of course we would have preferred to play at home, but we'll have to secure our place in the final. Before the holidays and last Sunday, we won there, so we'll go to Roazhon Park with the same goal."
Angers SCO 0 - 1 Montpellier Hérault SC
Stéphane Moulin (Angers coach): "It's not easy when you concede five minutes from time. We had some good moments in the second half. We thought the team that opened the scoring would win it. Unfortunately for us, it was Montpellier. I can't fault my players. Physically, it was a bit tough at the end of the game. But after a bit of a quiet first half, we managed to cause them problems in the second half. But we hit the crossbar as we did on Sunday, and they cleared one off the line. Unfortunately, it's the same scenario and they are against us. I hope that it won't continue in the league."
Michel Der Zakarian (Montpellier coach): "It's deserved on the balance of play. They hit the crossbar and there was the goalline clearance at the end, but apart from that, we controlled the game well. We defended well, didn't leave them a lot of space. We used the ball well, even if we're still struggling to finish things off. But it's encouraging. Our play is improving day by day. Now we have to look forward to Monaco in the league."
Stade Rennais FC 4 - 2 Toulouse FC
Sabri Lamouchi (Rennes coach): "The scoreline is a bit flattering, I think we could have won this game without suffering so much. I have to congratulate my players on how they have bounced back from Sunday and the attitude they showed. We started the game how we had wanted to, but we shouldn't have allowed Toulouse back into the game in the first half. We sat back too much in the second, we played too deep and lost the ball too quickly. Both teams played to win, and it went in our favour. It's great to have qualified."
Pascal Dupraz (Toulouse coach): "It's disappointing. Above all, it's disappointing to have been chasing the game in the first half, to only really play in the second, and to concede four goals. It looks like we were completely dominated. We seemed to have the match in hand in getting back to 2-2. And then we made defensive mistakes…Rennes were very lucky with the free-kick, but we need to try and make our own luck more. We have to do a lot better in terms of concentration, our defensive discipline, determination and aggression."
Tuesday, January 9, 2017
OGC Nice 1 - 2 AS Monaco
Lucien Favre (Nice coach): "It is hard to swallow because the chance was there for us to go through. We are very disappointed to be eliminated. We will need to pick ourselves up in the league. We played really well, which is very encouraging. A lot of youngsters came in as well, which is not bad. They have enormous potential, but it will take time for them to confirm that. We just were not clinical enough, precise enough with our shooting and decision-making. Our crossing was not the bees knees either, but we could at least have got to 2-2. There were lots of positives. But there is no point playing well just to make these mistakes."
Leonardo Jardim (Monaco coach): "It was important for two reasons: because we have qualified for the semi-finals and it was an objective of ours to go as far as possible in this competition, and because it was a derby and so it was important for our supporters. It has not gone well here the last couple of times. Today was hugely satisfying. The last couple of times here we played with a bit too high a line. Nice played on the counter-attack. Today we defended deeper to avoid their quick breaks. We used a different approach to get our two goals. It is to be expected that we are stronger with the injured players back. We have a competitive squad to enable us to play every three days."