Late penalty puts Lyon into cup quarters showdown with Marseille

NICE, France — Lyon will face in-form Marseille in the French Cup quarterfinals after a last gasp penalty snatched a 2-1 win for them at Nice on Thursday.

Moussa Dembele opened the scoring for the away side in the 15th minute at a sparsely-populated Allianz Riviera stadium, the Frenchman collecting Maxwel Cornet's cross before rolling home his 18th goal of the season.

Little else happened until the final minutes, when first Kasper Dolberg backheeled straight to Lyon goalkeeper Anton Tatarusanu from a few yards out.

Adam Ounas then flashed home a leveler for the hosts in the 89th minute, but just seconds later Lyon were given a penalty for Dante's reckless tackle on substitute Karl Toko Ekambi, with Houssem Aouar tucking home the winning spot-kick.

Rudi Garcia's side will host Marseille, who are second in Ligue 1 and unbeaten since the end of October, next month.

The 3-1 win over Strasbourg on Wednesday that put Andre Villas-Boas' side in the last eight saw a group of around 600 Marseille lawyers dressed in courtroom robes demonstrate against the French government's controversial pension reforms.

Epinal and Belfort, architects of the two big shocks of the round, have both been handed home ties against top division opposition.

Saint-Etienne will travel to the former after beating Monaco while Belfort will host holders Rennes, who edged closer to retaining the trophy by winning a nine-goal thriller with Angers 5-4 on Tuesday.

Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain will face relegation strugglers Dijon, who needed a 119th winner against plucky fifth division amateurs Limonest to progress. — AFP