French Cup: Lacazette hat-trick puts Lyon through to round of 16

Lyon is under pressure from its unhappy fans after poor recent performances and could ill afford to slip up at home.

Lyon’s French forward Alexandre Lacazette celebrates after scoring a goal during the French Cup round of 32 clash against Chambery at the Groupama Stadium in Decines-Charpieu on January 21, 2023.  | Photo Credit: AFP

Alexandre Lacazette’s hat trick ensured Lyon avoided a French Cup upset by beating fifth-tier Chambery 3-0 to reach the round of 16 on Saturday.

Lyon is under pressure from its unhappy fans after poor recent performances and could ill afford to slip up at home.

Lacazette settled nerves with his first goal in the 11th minute and made it 2-0 in the 33rd, set up both times by Brazilian Teté.

The hat trick was completed midway through the second half, taking Lacazette’s season tally to 14 in 21 games since rejoining Lyon from Arsenal.

There were no upsets as Toulouse, Lorient, Reims and Angers were the other top-flight teams to go through.

Toulouse scored twice in four minutes as it beat Ajaccio 2-0 in an all-first-division game. Zakaria Aboukhlal and Rafael Ratao netted midway through the second half.

Lorient won on penalty kicks at second-tier Bastia following a 1-1 draw, and Reims triumphed at fourth-tier Les Herbiers 3-0.

Angers scraped a 1-0 win at Olympique Strasbourg Koenigshoffen, which has the longest name but was the smallest team left and plays in the Alsace regional league.

Top-flight neighbor Strasbourg allowed the minnow to borrow its stadium and nearly 20,000 fans attended. OSK normally has 100 fans watching its home games.

Angers is rock bottom of the first division and has not won a league game since September, so defender Miha Blazic’s 16th-minute goal was a relief.