What We're Reading
No Double Pour Vous: PSG Exits Cup on Penalties
- Reuters, Thursday, April 18, 2013 12:13 PM
Paris St. Germain’s dream of a domestic double this season evaporated on Wednesday, as star signings Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva missed their
penalties in a 4-1 shootout loss to Evian Thonon Gaillard in the French Cup quarterfinals after the game had finished 1-1. Despite the exit, super-rich PSG still maintains a healthy nine-point lead in
Ligue 1 with six games remaining, while Evian is just three points above the relegation zone.
"We said after the draw that it was the best thing for us to regroup in hard times,”
Evian coach Pascal Dupraz told French television France 3 after the game. “I hope we now will build momentum and stay in the top flight." The win marks Evian’s first-ever
trip to the French Cup semifinals, where it will play Lorient. The other game will see Troyes, Ligue 1’s last-placed team, take on Bordeaux.
PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti was beside himself after the
loss. "This is a disaster. This is the worst game in my reign, the worst," the Italian told Canal+. "I'm sorry, I'm very sorry. It's my responsibility. Our attitude was not good enough. When a
team goes on a field with a bad attitude, it's the fault of the coach."
However, PSG forward Javier Pastore, who scored his team’s only goal, disagreed. "This isn't a
failure. We lost a soccer match, that's all," the Argentine said. "When we don't play well and our opponents defend well, that can happen. We are eliminated from the French Cup but there is still the
championship up for grabs. Evian were a very good team this evening."
