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Monaco edged past Lille in the Coupe de la Ligue on Wednesday, while Auxerre were surprisingly eliminated by Le Mans.
Fresh from their 3-1 win over Lyon, Lille put in a strong performance at the Stade Louis II but came up against a Monaco side playing with renewed vigour under Francesco Guidolin.
The only goal came against the run of play 10 minutes before the end when Camel Meriem was upended by Stathis Tavlaridis on the edge of the penalty area. Meriem picked himself up and curled home the free kick.
Two major clubs failed to reach the quarter-finals, as Auxerre and Paris Saint-Germain crashed out. Auxerre, playing in front of their home fans, took the lead through 20-year-old Baptiste Martin after 63 minutes, but Le Mans – without a win in their last six away games – levelled matters with a Martin Douillard goal in stoppage time. The visitors clinched the tie on a penalty shootout, winning 4-1 after misses from Kanga Akalé and Benoit Cheyrou.
In the other all-Ligue 1 affair, Toulouse beat a lacklustre Paris Saint-Germain side 2-0 at the Municipal Stadium. Both goals came in the last three minutes, Fode Mansare breaking the deadlock before Daniel Moreira added the icing to the cake.
At the Stade Marcel-Picot, Nancy proved too strong for Ligue 2 side Lorient, Mosef Zerka scoring the game’s only goal after 13 minutes. There was a much-needed win for Ligue 1 stragglers Ajaccio who edged past Montpellier 1-0 with a goal from Waldir Lucas Parreira on 65 minutes.
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