体坛英语新闻：Fourth-division Epinal join PSG to progress into French Cup quarterfinals

PARIS, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Fourth division side Epinal produced another upset in the French Cup on Wednesday as they shocked Ligue 1 outfit Lille 2-1, following Belfort to become the second fourth-tier team to reach the quarterfinals.

Belfort survived the shoot-out 5-4 against top-flight Montpellier on Tuesday to advance.

Lille took an early lead against the team from northeastern France Vosges mountains when Loic Remy opened the scoring just eight minutes into the game. But Cote d'Ivoire's 22-year-old striker Jean-Philippe Krasso took over the game in the second half as he hit a brace to secure a berth for Epinal in the last eight.

"You have to congratulate Epinal. We didn't deserve much given how we played," said Lille's angry head coach Christophe Galter.

Lille sits in the seventh place of the Ligue 1 table but only claimed one win in the past five games in all competitions.

Powerhouses Paris Saint-Germain easily cruised past third-tier side Pau 2-0 to book their spot in the quarterfinals.

Thomas Tuchel fielded the line-up with 10 changes to the side that beat Lille 2-0 on Sunday with Neymar out of the squad and Kylian Mbappe on the bench. But goals from Leandro Paredes and Pablo Sarabia sent PSG to the next round.

PSG have won the French Cup for four consecutive times from 2015 to 2018, before suffering a shocking defeat to Rennais on penalty in the final last year.

Elsewhere, Marseille dispatched Strasbourg 3-1 to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 13 games under new coach Andre Villas-Boas. Their last defeat was on October 30, 2019, when they lost to Monaco 2-1 in the French League Cup round of 32.