Football: US Orléans too close to Le Mans and eliminated from the Coupe de France

The hierarchy was respected this Sunday, January 12 on the synthetic turf of the La Source stadium. Second in the Second League and impressive since the start of the season, Le Mans FC logically qualified for the round of 16 of the Women’s French Cup by beating US Orléans (0-2).

The USO could, however, have turned the tide at the start of the match. But Traoré, after dribbling past Dumas, the Sarthois goalkeeper, did not target his shot (8th). Behind, the match turned in favor of the Mancelles thanks to this superb goal from Nado, author of a fantastic strike almost 25 m from the Orléans goals, the ball lodging in the top corner (16th).

The break and missed opportunities

Le Mans made the break from a corner, Guermazi ahead of Dupupet’s exit (36th). The Sarthe realism did not discourage the Orléanaises, but Abizi on a free kick (32nd), Traoré on an intercepted back cross (42nd) and Abadou on an off-target shot (45th) did not manage to score the goal of the hope.

However, we did not see the good intentions of Orléans during a second period perfectly managed by the Mancelles. The USO rarely approached the opposing goals, with the exception of Berthé (62nd) and Vranic (79th). It was too little to shake up a Le Mans team that lived up to its status and ambitions.

Encouraging for the match against Metz

“We put things in place and it was respected, but we conceded two goals even though the match was balanced,” regretted Mathias Bastos, assistant to Régis Mohar, the Orléans coach who left directly without going through the locker room?! “Afterwards, we tried to push, but we fell into a false rhythm against a good team, in place and solid. But we still saw good things. It’s good in anticipation of the next championship match very important against Metz.”

Patrick Paumier