French champions Paris Saint-Germain ended a run of two defeats with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over second tier AC Ajaccio to reach the Coupe de la Ligue (French League Cup) quarter-finals on Wednesday.
PSG, who had lost to Barcelona in their Champions League group match last week and then in Ligue 1 to Guingamp at the weekend, went behind early on to a penalty by captain Johan Cavalli.
A tense PSG coach Laurent Blanc said, however, that going behind had not worried him.
“Why do I have to always explain my team’s problems?” said the former France coach.
“I was satisfied with the second-half performance and at no stage was I worried. You only worry if you are 1-0 down with 10 seconds remaining.
“We are going through a difficult spell and at those times nothing makes you smile.”
The Paris side may have been missing key players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic but they still had players of the experience of David Luiz and Edinson Cavani in the starting line-up, players their hosts could only dream about buying.
However, they were held at bay by a resilient Ajaccio outfit until Cavani finally equalised nine minutes into the second half after being set up by Lucas Moura.
Ivorian defender Serge Aurier added a second with a header from a corner 10 minutes from time, and the last eight place was ensured when Jean-Christophe Bahebeck slotted home four minutes later with Lucas once again the creator.
Elsewhere, Guingamp followed up their win over PSG at the weekend with a 2-0 away victory over Arles-Avignon, another welcome result for a side lingering four points above the relegation zone.
Both Lille and Monaco needed penalties to advance, sending out Bordeaux and Lyon, respectively. And Rennes moved on with a 1-0 win against Creteil.
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