They had succeeded in eighteen of their nineteen attempts in the previous two sessions. A new penalty shootout exercise could not impress Rouen (FCR), a National club, which sought an equalizer against Valenciennes (Ligue 2) – from a penalty! – in the last minute of their Coupe de France quarter-final, Wednesday February 28.

And yet, the Normans finally gave up during their third consecutive penalty shootout with the failures of Mustapha Benzia whose shot was repelled by Jean Louchet, and Zana Allee who found the crossbar.

The epilogue is cruel for the FCR which had been very attractive in the two previous rounds and had successively eliminated the defending champion Toulouse (3-3, 12-11 tab) and Monaco (1-1, 6-5 tab). This time, the Rouennais never seemed able to ignite the match, an observation which owes a lot to the very serious and controlled game of the Valenciennes, last in Ligue 2 and almost condemned to relegation, with their 15 points behind on maintenance.

Normandy’s countless technical inaccuracies nipped many of their offensive opportunities in the bud, and on the rare occasions when the locals managed to threaten the opposing goal, Louchet, the usual number two in the northern cages, shone. He notably made an incredible save in the 40th minute, on his line, repelling with his thigh and hand a rebound from Valentin Sanson at the far post.

The Hainaut players didn’t really offer an offensive festival either, but they alternated much better between rapid transitions and combinations in set play. After a first alert on a strike from Siriné Doucouré with a rebound, well repelled by Leonard Aggoune (12th), Valenciennes found the fault on a perfect cross from Souleymane Basse cut six meters by Mathias Oyewusi, who smashed the ball with his head (1-0, 26th).

In the 87th minute, after recovering the ball close to the surface, Malian striker from Valenciennes Siriné Doucouré saw his shot boxed by Léonard Aggoune who kept his team alive.

“We got through it a bit.”

And who knows what went through Knockaert’s mind when, in the 90th minute, after a corner was pushed back by his defense, he attempted a sombrero and a turn rather than clearing, but he ended up causing a penalty by hitting Bouzamoucha rather than the ball. On Damien Loppy’s penalty, however poorly taken and first repelled by Louchet, the defense did not follow, letting the Rouen attacker take over to equalize (1-1, 90 1), and force a penalty shootout. ultimately fateful goal (4-2 for Valenciennes).

“Obviously, [we feel] disappointment for the guys. What I told them, straight away, was that we lost the match in the first half,” admitted Rouen coach Maxime d’Ornano. “The only regret is that we didn’t relax them enough. We went through a bit, we were a little contracted, we made a lot of technical errors,” he noted.

“I’m proud of what they did,” said Valenciennes coach Ahmed Kantari. We all know the difficult times we are going through and, believe me, to mobilize and put in the match they did in the current period, I take my hat off to them. »

The northern club joins Lyon in the last four for their fourth semi-final in the competition, the last dating back fifty-four years. On Thursday, the Petit Poucet of the Le Puy (National 2) competition faces Rennes, a Ligue 1 club. And on Wednesday March 13, Paris Saint-Germain will host Nice in an elite shock.