Olympique Lyonnais qualifies for the final by beating Valenciennes

Shaken in the first period, Olympique Lyonnais qualified, Tuesday April 2, for the final of the Coupe de France at the expense of Valenciennes (3-0), last in Ligue 2, thanks in particular to a double from its captain, Alexandre Lacazette.

But Pierre Sage’s players, probably tense by the pressure of the stakes, in front of 57,000 spectators, dominated for a long time in a sterile manner, showing themselves to be very little dangerous before the break. Too weak an attempt from Benrahma (7^e), a missed cross from Nicolas Tagliafico falling on the post (11^e), a header from Duje Caleta-Car off target from a corner (14^e) and, finally, a shot from Ernest Nuamah which grazed the amount (26^e), were the only dangerous actions of the Lyonnais.

It was a goal from the captain which finally gave OL the advantage in the 51st^e minute, on a penalty awarded for a foul committed on himself by Joffrey Cuffaut. The referee Stéphanie Frappart first went to check the validity of her decision on the video screen before confirming it, despite the protests of the Valenciennes residents. This goal obviously conditioned the rest, while Valenciennes had resisted until then without much difficulty.

The Valenciennes coach is surprised by the refereeing

In the first period, M^me Frappart had not seen a foul by Anthony Knockaert on the Irishman Jake O’Brien before Siriné Doucouré scored a goal for Valenciennes, ultimately invalidated after the intervention of the video assistance, which returned to the disputed intervention (38^e).

The Valencian coach, Ahmed Kantari, did not want “hit the arbitration” by Stéphanie Frappart while being surprised by her decisions. In particular, he called on everyone to “form your own opinion and take responsibility”.

“I have the right to say “no comment”? You know my opinion. We score a goal where there is no fault, clearly, we must say what it is”he reacted at a press conference. “They score a goal on a penalty while it’s Alexandre Lacazette who impales himself on my defender”he regretted.

After Lyon opened the score, Lacazette quickly brought the score to 2-0 with a pivotal shot following a pass from Saïd Benrahma (57^e), thus eroding the suspense for the last third of the meeting, more easily controlled by the Rhone residents. Especially since Gift Orban added a third goal by easily taking over a cross delivered by Rayan Cherki when the two players had just come into play (76^e).

The last victory in the final was in 2012

At the final whistle, Lyon supporters could exult by invading the pitch to show their joy at seeing their club in the final after having seen it so close to Ligue 2 in November 2023.

Lyon, who feared this seemingly easy draw against a team destined to be relegated to the National (3^e division) with only two victories in thirty days, will not boast of this qualification but will of course retain the result, which sends it for the ninth time in its history to the final of the event. The Rhone club has won five, including the last, which it played in 2012 against Quevilly, a National club.

“The status of favorite does not allow you to lead the score and does not eliminate the opponent who delivered his match to win it”recalled the Lyon coach, Pierre Sage, believing that his team “should have scored before to ensure that this whole scenario could not exist”.

Winning the Coupe de France is now, probably, the last chance for the Lyonnais, 10^are of Ligue 1 after being last for a long time, to qualify for a European Cup at the end of the season. In the final, on May 25 in Lille, Lyon will face either Paris Saint-Germain, whom it beat in 2008 for the only Cup-championship double in its history, or Rennes, the two clubs facing each other on Wednesday at the Parc des Princes (at 9:10 p.m.) in the other semi-final.