Spectacular season for Lens! The French Cup is in their hands

In Ligue 1 they ran out of steam toward the finish line, but in the Cup they went all the way! The biggest surprise of the French season — Lens — defeated Nice in the final of the country’s main cup competition, crowning a spectacular campaign with a trophy after a 3–1 (2–1) victory.

Three times in their history Lens had reached the final, only to stumble at the last hurdle every single time. But tonight in Paris they finally cleared the final obstacle, beating an uninspired Nice side and lifting their first trophy of the 21st century. It was also their first-ever Coupe de France title. On top of that, they ruined Nice’s season…

The team from the French Riviera now faces a playoff against Saint-Etienne for survival in Ligue 1, which made the Cup final a perfect chance to salvage a disappointing and turbulent campaign. Instead, things could become even worse if Nice fail to preserve their top-flight status… To do that, they will need a far better performance than the one they produced tonight.

Although Claude Puel’s side was more than competitive, they lacked someone like Florian Thauvin. The 2018 World Cup winner with France looked highly motivated to finally win a domestic trophy after so many years. And he succeeded — by putting the team on his back and leading it to a long-awaited triumph.

He gave Lens the lead midway through the first half and then set up Odsonne Edouard for the second goal near the end of the half. However, before the break Nice managed to cut the deficit in half. Youngster Djibril Koulibaly, playing only his ninth senior match, reacted best at the near post following a corner and made it 2–1.

Nice also had little luck in turning their improved second-half display into goals, as Antoine Mendy struck the crossbar just after the hour mark! About fifteen minutes later, punishment arrived at the other end. Substitute Abdallah Sima sensed a defensive mistake, reached the ball before both the goalkeeper and the Nice defender, and while falling managed to poke it into the net to seal the victory.

And spark huge celebrations in northern France.

COUPE DE FRANCE FINAL

Friday

Lens - Nice 3-1 (2-1)

/Thauvin 25, Edouard 42, Sima 78 - Coulibaly 45+3/