Navas stars again as PSG reaches French Cup quarterfinals

<p>PARIS &mdash; Keylor Navas saved another penalty to help Paris Saint-Germain reach the French Cup quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over Lille 3-0 on Wednesday, with Kylian Mbappe scoring twice.</p>
<p>One week after making multiple saves against Barcelona in the Champions League, including a penalty from Lionel Messi, Navas was key to a win that wasn’t nearly as straightforward as the scoreline suggested. </p>
<p>He made a close-range save to deny Lille striker Burak Yilmaz in the fifth minute when the game was still scoreless and stopped Yusuf Yazici’s penalty in the 78th with PSG leading 2-0.</p>
<p>PSG stayed on course to defend its trophy, but it was another unconvincing performance following Sunday’s 2-1 home loss to Nantes and the 1-1 draw with Barcelona last Wednesday.</p>
<p>Lille paid a heavy price for resting captain Jose Fonte — arguably the league’s best defender this season — because all of PSG’s goals stemmed from defensive errors.</p>
<p>Mauro Icardi gave PSG the lead in the ninth minute. Angel Di Maria, whose <a href="https://apnews.com/article/angel-di-maria-sergio-mauro-icardi-robbery-burglary-9f8664e552c58538dec5b6290b5f1249">house was burgled</a> while he was playing Sunday, hit a right-wing cross that caused a mix-up between inexperienced defender Tiago Djalo and goalkeeper Mike Maignan. </p>
<p>The ball cannoned off Djalo’s leg, with Maignan sprawled on the ground trying to cut out the cross, and it rolled to Icardi right in front of goal.</p>
<p>Yilmaz nearly equalized in the 30th but hit the crossbar after turning and shooting.</p>
<p>Icardi limped off with an unspecified injury close to the interval and was replaced by Mbappe.</p>
<p>His penalty made it 2-0 in the 41st after he was fouled by Zeki Celik, who made the rash intervention seconds after failing to clear a simple ball.</p>
<p>After forwards Jonathan David and Jonathan Bamba forced Navas into smart low saves, Navas dived to his left to bat away Yazici’s penalty.</p>
<p>Djalo made another blunder in the third minute of injury time, failing to cut out simple a long pass near the halfway line and allowing Mbappe to sprint clear and loft the ball neatly over Maignan.</p>
<p>The match supposed to be played in April but was moved forward because of the Champions League quarterfinals.</p>
<p>The sides meet again soon in the French league, with leader Lille visiting defending champion PSG on April 3.</p>
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