PARIS, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain sealed its French League Cup quarterfinal spot with a 2-1 road victory over second-division Orleans on Tuesday.
PSG, who had lifted the trophy five times in a row, opened the scoring through Edinson Cavani's chip shot before the interval. After Joseph Lopy leveled the score for Orleans, Moussa Diaby stepped up to score a winner nine minutes from time.
Uruguayan striker Cavani latched onto Angel Di Maria's cross before finishing a clever lob over Orleans goalkeeper Thomas Renault in the 41st minute.
However, Orleans players displayed their resilience in the second half. After PSG's Christopher Nkunku gave the ball away, Lopy fired a powerful shot outside the box in the 70th minute that bounced off in front of goal line past Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who came off the bench for Alphonse Areola just after the break.
The 19-year-old substitute Diaby sped past several Orleans defenders to beat Renault with a low shot in the 81st minute.
As Orleans, desperately seeking for an equalizer, pressed on into stoppage time, France's teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe was handed a glorious chance of extending PSG's margin at the last gasp of the match, but his shot through a counter-attack was cleared by Gauthier Pinaud before the goal line.
Other seven matches for last eight berths will be played on Wednesday.
