Brest inflict further cup woe on Toulouse

High-flying French second division side Brest reached the last 16 of the French Cup on Wednesday as they beat top-tier outfit Toulouse 2-0.

Brest lie second in Ligue 2 as they seek a return to the top flight for the first time since 1991.

They grabbed two late goals via Romain Poyet, who lobbed a poorly placed Mathieu Valverde, and an 87th-minute penalty by his strike partner Richard Socrier to inflict a second cup defeat in a week on their opponents.

Brest coach Alex Dupont was extremely proud of his players, especially as he had left out several of his first-choice side.

“This really is something. You can certainly say that it is an exploit to come to Toulouse and beat them,” said Dupont, whose side have suffered just one defeat in their last 22 matches.

Dupont took huge pleasure that he had been proved right in his team selection and cocked a snook at several critics.

“I read an article on Tuesday that spoke about us putting out a team of hairdressers,” he said. “Well I think for a group of hairdressers they played pretty well.”

Toulouse, who were without several influential players including the injured French international striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, suffered heartbreak last Wednesday in their League Cup semi-final against Marseille when, having led 1-0 until the 85th minute, they ended up losing 2-1 after extra-time.

It was the second successive season that Toulouse had lost to a second division side at home in the French Cup, after they went down to eventual winners Guingamp in the semi-finals of last season’s competition.

Brest, whose best previous run in the cup saw them reach the last eight in 1983, will play away in the next round at either Lens or Marseille, who meet later on Wednesday.

Third division Plabennec, however, were unable to repeat their giant-killing acts of the previous two rounds — they put out Nice and Nancy — as they were well beaten 4-0 by Auxerre, with Polish international Ireneusz Jelen scoring a hat-trick.

Plabennec’s young coach Franck Kerviles was philosophical about the end of his side’s dream run.

“There are no regrets about this evening. My players gave their all and chased to the end,” said the 32-year-old.

“Auxerre’s victory is totally deserved. We lacked a bit of freshness tonight, having played eight times in January.

“The upside of this run is that people have got to know the club all round France.”

Guingamp will not be defending their trophy at the Stade de France as they were beaten 1-0 by Ligue 1 strugglers Boulogne-sur-Mer on Tuesday in a last 16 tie.