Olympique Lyonnais were shaken up in the first half by 3-0 Valenciennes on Tuesday 2 April, thanks in particular to a brace from their captain. Alexandre Lacazette. .
But Pierre Sage’s players, probably tense with the tension of the challenge, in front of 57,000 spectators, dominated for a long time in a sterile way, looking little damaging before the break. Benrahma’s effort was too weak (7′). A cross from Nicolas Tagliafico hit the post (11′), a deflected header from Duje Caleta-Car from a corner kick (14′) and, finally, Ernest Nuamah’s shot, which almost hit the post (26′), were Lyon’s only chances of damage.
A goal from the captain that, despite everything, gave OL the lead in the 51st minute, with a penalty awarded for a foul committed against himself by Joffrey Cuffaut. Referee Stéphanie Frappart was the first to check the validity of her decision on the ball. video screen before confirming it, despite protests from Valenciennes. This goal clearly conditioned the rest of the match, while Valenciennes had resisted until then without great difficulty.
In the first half, Frappart had failed to notice a foul by Anthony Knockaert on Ireland’s Jake O’Brien before Siriné Doucouré scored a goal for Valenciennes, which was disallowed after the intervention of the video assistant, who cancelled out the controversial intervention (38′).
Valencia coach Ahmed Kantari had to “hit the refereeing” of Stéphanie Frappart while marvelling at his decisions. In particular, he asked everyone to “form their own opinion and assume their responsibilities. “
“Do I have the right to say ‘no comment’? You know my opinion. We scored a goal where there is no foul, of course, we have to say what it is,” he reacted in a press conference. penalty goal when Alexandre Lacazette impaled my defender,” he said.
After Lyon had opened the scoring, Lacazette temporarily made it 2-0 with a shot on the half-turn after a pass from Saïd Benrahma (57′), thus eroding the suspense of the final third of the match, which he controlled better through the Rhône. . Especially as Gift Orban added the third goal when he easily received a cross from Rayan Cherki when the two players had just come on (76′).
As the final whistle blows, Lyon fans will perhaps rejoice as they invade the pitch to show their joy at seeing their club back in the final after seeing it so close to Ligue 2 in November 2023.
Lyon, who feared this probable simple draw against a team condemned to relegation to the National (3rd division) with only two wins in thirty games, will not be able to boast of this classification but they will be able to boast of the result, which places them in ninth place. . moment of his story in the final of the event. The Rhône club has won five of them, including the last one, which was played in 2012 against Quevilly, a club from the National League.
Winning the Coupe de France is now probably the last chance for Lyon, tenth in 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, they will Lyon. Se face Paris Saint-Germain, whom they beat in 2008 for the only league and cup double in their history, or Rennes, who will face each other on Wednesday at the Parc des Princes (9:10 p. m. ) in the other semifinal. -final.