PARIS: Mauro Icardi continued his devastating scoring form with a hat-trick to inspire Paris St German to a 6-1 thrashing of 10-man St Etienne in the French League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Argentine Icardi, on loan from Inter Milan, scored either side of the interval with Neymar, a Jessy Moulin own goal and a Kylian Mbappe effort adding to the woes of Les Verts, who were reduced to 10 men when Wesley Fofana was sent off after half an hour.

Icardi has scored 17 goals in 19 games for PSG.

Yohan Cabaye scored St Etienne’s only goal in the second half at the Parc des Princes but his team had already been subdued in a one-sided encounter.

Elsewhere, Olympique Lyonnais battled into the last four with a 3-1 victory at home to Brest.

Moussa Dembele broke the deadlock on 19 minutes and Houssem Aouar added a second shortly after half-time for Rudi Garcia’s side.

Samuel Grandsir gave Brest hope with a tidy finish five minutes from time but Jean Lucas made sure of the win with a firm 20-yard drive in stoppage time.

Luiz Araujo and Victor Osimhen were on target as Lille overcame Amiens 2-0.

Stade de Reims eliminated holders Racing Strasbourg on Tuesday after winning 4-2 on penalties following a goalless draw.

The competition, which includes all the clubs from France’s top two divisions and a handful of teams from the third tier, will be suspended indefinitely at the end of this season.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2020