PSG strike late to avoid cup shock
PARIS, France (Reuters) -- Paris St Germain recovered from 2-0 down with a minute left and edged out Division Two Troyes 3-2 after extra time in the French Cup first round on Sunday.
Benjamin Nivet scored Troyes first goal in the 21st minute after a swift counter-attack and three minutes later striker Helder Estevez made it two from the penalty spot after he was upended.
PSG looked to be on their way out until Gabiel Heinze blasted a free kick under the bar in the 89th minute -- and Bartholomew Ogbeche equalised two minutes into injury time.
Troyes suddenly lost their composure and Portugal striker Pedro Pauleta sealed the PSG victory in the 95th minute, heading home a perfect cross from Fabrice Fiorese.
"The fans scored the winning goal because they supported us until the end," said Pauleta.
Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyon, Cup holders AJ Auxerre and Monaco eased to the second round but seven top-flight teams were eliminated.
In difficult conditions, on a snow-sprinkled pitch, Monaco dominated Sunday's Ligue 1 head-to-head with Metz.
They opened the scoring on the hour through a well-struck 20-meter free kick by Vassilis Zikos and Ludovic Giuly made it 2-0 five minutes from time.
In the weekend's three other all-top flight encounters, Strasbourg, Le Mans and Sochaux were ousted by Marseille, RC Lens, and Auxerre, respectively.
France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, who ended last season clearly out of favor at Old Trafford, was the toast of the town.
He celebrated his return to Marseille by saving twice and scoring once as his team beat RC Strasbourg 4-3 on penalties on Saturday.
Among the other top-flight casualties, Bastia and Ajaccio, the two Corsicans sides, were humbled 2-0 by Second Division Besancon and Gueugnon respectively on Sunday.
En Avant Guingamp went down 5-3 on penalties at Fourth Division Bayonne on Saturday.
