Beauvue wonder strike breaks Concarneau's hearts
An injury-time wonder strike from Claudio Beauvue broke fourth division Concarneau's hearts in the French Cup quarter-finals as holders Guingamp claimed a narrow 2-1 victory on Thursday. The match's denouement followed a clumsy tackle that led to a free-kick some 35 metres from goal. Beauvue stepped up to strike the ball true and hard into the right hand corner of stranded Concarneau goalkeeper Ivan Seznec. Guingamp and fellow Brittany club Concarneau, the sole amateur side left in the competition, were level at half-time after Christophe Mandanne opened the scoring in the third minute for the Ligue 1 club, only for Christophe Gourmelon to equalise in the 21st minute. Guingamp coach Jocelyn Gourvennec said victory was all that mattered. "In the Cup, you have to win, get past the post, you have to qualify," he said. "There's no small victory. It's still been very difficult, as it always is in Cup matches." His Concarneau counterpart Nicolas Cloarec said his team had been made to suffer in the second half both in their ball retention and physically. "It's Guingamp, it's cold professionalism," he said. "If I have one regret it's our first half: the missed opportunities and the start to it, of course." Earlier in the evening, Auxerre saw off Brest 4-2 on penalties after the game ended goalless after extra time. The other teams to have already qualified for the semi-finals were St Etienne, having beaten Boulogne 4-3 on penalties, and Paris Saint-Germain, who beat fellow Ligue 1 side Monaco 2-0 on Wednesday. The draw for the semi-finals, to be held on April 7 and 8, will be made on Sunday.
