Benzema Sends Lyon Through In French Cup

Lyon will visit Ligue 1 rivals Lille in early March for a place in the quarter-finals.

An early Karim Benzema goal gave French Cup holders Olympique Lyon a 1-0 win over Olympique Marseille and a ticket to the last 16 on Wednesday.

Lyon will visit Ligue 1 rivals Lille in early March for a place in the quarter-finals.

France striker Benzema capitalised after a blunder by the Marseille defence to open the scoring from close range two minutes into the game in Lyon.

The seven-times French champions played the last 30 minutes with 10 men after Ivory Coast forward Kader Keita was sent off for a second booking but Marseille, who have won the Cup a record 10 times, rarely looked in contention.