A horror flying tackle by Marseille defender Eric Bailly left a French Cup opponent in intensive care on Saturday as the Manchester United loanee was immediately sent off.
Ivory Coast international Bailly, 28, was red-carded after just 15 minutes of the tie at fourth division amateur side Hyeres when his foot crunched into the chest of Almike Moussa N'Diaye.
The stricken Hyeres player was stretchered off before being taken to a local hospital from the modest 8,000-capacity Francis-Turcan stadium in Martigues in southern France.
Hyeres president Mourad Boudjellal, the colorful and controversial former owner of Toulon rugby club, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that N'Diaye was transported to another hospital in Marseille, 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) away.
"He was transferred to Hospital Nord in Marseille, and they admitted him to intensive care as a precaution," said Boudjellal. "We pray that everything goes well for him. He's a great lad and one of our best players."
Earlier, the coaching staff at Hyeres had been more reassuring. "It's more fear than harm, nothing serious, maybe a concussion," assistant coach Zaki Noubir told Maritima radio. "Bailly came quickly into our dressing room to offer his shirt and, above all, to hear the latest news."
Despite playing most of the last 64 ties with 10 men, Marseille still had too much firepower and ran out of 2-0 winners.
"On the red card, I didn't see what happened," said Marseille coach Igor Tudor. "But the sending-off changed everything, and we had to push hard to win. It was a typically dangerous French Cup game. We'll see later what the penalty will be for Bailly."
Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring with a 45th-minute "panenka" penalty. Bamba Dieng added the second in the 71st minute. Second division Rodez, from south-central France, pulled off a shock by defeating Monaco, who is fifth in the top flight Ligue 1.
After the tie ended 2-2, Rodez came out on top in the penalty shoot-out 5-4 when goalkeeper Sebastien Cibois saved from Soungoutou Magassa.
On Friday, Paris Saint-Germain rested their biggest stars but still won 3-1 at third-tier Chateauroux.
With Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar not even on the visiting bench, PSG took the lead after 13 minutes with a right-foot shot from Hugo Ekitike. However, the home team hit back with a 37th-minute goal by Natanael Ntolla.
Carlos Soler put the visitors back in the lead in the 78th minute, with another Spaniard, Juan Bernat, scoring the third goal in added time.
