A real nail-biter

The context
It was an evening when a rookie was taking on the record-holder. Orléans were in the Coupe de la Ligue Last 16 for the first time, Paris Saint-Germain had won their last 20 games in the competition. For their final trip of 2018, the capital club had just one thing in mind: qualification.

The key moments
At the Stade de la Source, Paris Saint-Germain needed to dig deep, even though Choupo-Moting forced a save from Renault inside the opening minute (1'). The 8,500-strong crowd must have expected a hatful of goalscoring opportunities, but other than efforts from Le Tallec (11') and Ziani (24') for the hosts, clear-cut chances were few and far between until the French champions made their 75% possession count. Di Maria's lobbed ball found Cavani, who in turn lifted the ball expertly over Renault to break the deadlock (0-1, 41')!

Buffon's arrival to replace Areola was not the only change at half-time as Paris stepped up a gear.  Cavani (47'), Bernat (58') and Mbappé (65'), who had just come off the bench, all stretched Renault in the home goal before the visitors were stunned by Lopy's equaliser with the hosts' first shot on target (1-1, 69'). A penalty shoot-out beckoned, but Diaby - brought on just four minutes earlier - took on the role of hero to decide it (1-2, 81')! There might have been more goals in added time as Renault tried an improbable overhead kick in the Paris penalty box after coming up for a corner, and he then saw Pinaud stop Mbappé finding his empty net. Nothing, though, could stop Paris Saint-Germain claiming a place in the next round with their tenth successive away win in the competition.

A Parisian in the match: Moussa Diaby
Thomas Tuchel's coaching paid off, but it was Diaby's piercing run over 25 metres, bamboozling the Orléans defence as he went, that ensured it did. The Paris Saint-Germain super-sub had done something similar in the win over Amiens in Ligue 1 - that time it had been worth three points, this one brought a quarter-final place.

The word: Goleador
Cavani needed just one chance to claim his seventh goal in his last five Coupe de la Ligue games. His opener also brought a record: with 15 strikes in the competition, he is now level with Pauleta as the Coupe de la Ligue's all-time leading scorer.

Up next
Home sweet home! After four away games, the Parisians will round off the year at home against their favourite prey. Nantes will arrive at the Parc des Princes on Saturday (21:00CET) when Paris Saint-Germain could become the first team to win 14 successive L1 games against the same opponent. That would be a great early Christmas present...