Nantes avoids upset in French Cup

PARIS (AP) - Sixth-tier side Club Franciscain was brought to earth by Nantes in the French Cup while top-flight teams Lorient and Nice lost to lower opposition on Saturday.

Nantes' 4-0 victory, including a Club Franciscain own-goal, ended the visitors' ambition to become the first side from the Antilles to reach the round of 32. The small club traveled from the Caribbean island of Martinique to take on the 2000 champions in heavy rain at Stade de La Beaujoire.

Lorient and Nice became the first top-flight casualties, losing respectively 1-0 to third-tier club Avranches, and 2-0 at second division side Valenciennes.

Bastia came out on top of a tie between two Ligue 1 sides with a 2-0 win over six-time winner Lille after midfielder Floyd Ayite scored twice in the first half.

Ligue 1 club Evian-Thonon-Gaillard, the 2013 runner-up, also advanced with a 3-0 win at sixth-tier Bobigny. Playing on a poor surface, Evian didn't score until the 68th minute.

Facing more sixth-tier opposition at Lusitanos Saint-Maur, Reims won 3-1 after overcoming a strong resistance from the Paris suburb team, which leveled through Sitou Ayi following Diego Rigonato's opener. Gaetan Charbonnier put Reims back in command and Nicolas de Preville sealed the visitors' win with an overhead kick.

At Nantes, Lucas Deaux opened the scoring with a well-taken shot from the edge of the box into the top corner after 14 minutes before Florian Narcissot headed the ball into his own net in the 32nd. The amateurs' task was made nearly impossible early in the second half when Jorick Ephestion was sent off for a misjudged tackle on Issa Cissokho. Club Franciscain players looked spent in the closing stages, as Nantes scored twice more.