Strasbourg booked their place in the French Cup last eight with a convincing 3-1 home win over Monaco on Thursday, halting their visitors’ recent resurgence.
The hosts made a fast start, taking the lead after just seven minutes when Martial Godo headed in from close range. Diego Moreira burst down the right flank before lifting a cross to the far post, where Thilo Kehrer nodded the ball back into the six-yard box for Godo to finish with a diving header.
Strasbourg doubled their advantage shortly after the break through Julio Enciso. The forward timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap, rounded goalkeeper Philipp Koehn and calmly slotted the ball into the net in the 55th minute.
Monaco responded almost immediately, with Mika Biereth guiding a low effort inside the far post to reduce the deficit. However, Enciso quickly restored Strasbourg’s two-goal cushion, reacting first to a loose ball and finishing past a diving Koehn after several earlier attempts in the same spell.
The defeat brought Monaco back down after recent positives, which included reaching the Champions League knockout play-offs and a dominant 4-0 Ligue 1 win over Rennes.
For Strasbourg, it marked a fourth victory in five matches under new head coach Gary O’Neil following Liam Rosenior’s departure to Chelsea.
The match took place amid visible fan frustration. Monaco supporters displayed a banner calling for the club’s management to resign, while Strasbourg fan groups released an open letter before kick-off criticising what they described as the club’s subservience to Chelsea, both clubs being owned by BlueCo.
In the quarter-finals scheduled for early March, Strasbourg will face the only remaining second-division side in the competition, Reims. The standout tie of the draw sees Lyon, unbeaten in 11 matches, take on Lens. The remaining fixtures will see Marseille host Toulouse, while Lorient welcome Nice.
