Lens overthrows Lille and qualifies for the knockout stages

This match will go down in the history of the North derby between Lens and Lille. By its nature – a knockout match – and its scenario, crazy, which smiled at the Blood and Gold, at home, Tuesday, January 4. A double from Seko Fofana, who had responded to another double from Amadou Onana, allowed the Lensois to snatch, at the last second, the penalty shootout they won on a last attempt by their captain , real hero of the evening. And therefore eliminate their rival in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France.

“I am very disappointed not to be qualified, Lille coach Jocelyn Gourvennec admitted after the meeting. I still wonder how we can not be with what we put in the game. “

Three months after a success (1-0) in the league, the RCL thus records a new victory against the reigning French champion, to the delight of its fans. He will once again play in front of his home crowd in the eighth, welcoming another Ligue 1 club, AS Monaco, at the end of January.

In a noisy Bollaert stadium despite a gauge of 5,000 supporters, massed in the same stand, the Mastiffs achieved a serious match but ended up paying for their lack of efficiency. Despite ten absences, Lille coach Jocelyn Gourvennec had promised to field a starting team “Competitive” and he kept his word since all the players who started were regulars in L1. On the other hand, of the eight substitutes, only Isaac Lihadji, recovered just in time from the Covid-19, had played with the pros this season.

At the start of the meeting, the Sang et Or put pressure on the Mastiffs without finding the fault despite two opportunities from Arnaud Kalimuendo (5^e) and Florian Sotoca (13^e) who stumbled upon an inspired Ivo Grbic. However, the best opportunity was in favor of Lille: after a nice overflow on the right side, Gabriel Gudmundsson served in withdrawal Yazici, whose recovery was diverted by goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez on the crossbar (8^e).

Onana near the hat-trick

Little by little the debates were balanced and Onana opened the scoring for Lille on a cross from Tiago Djalo extended by Kevin Danso (0-1, 29^e). Shortly after, the captain of the Diablotins, the Belgian Espoirs, offered himself a double on a service from Bamba, which had been well launched by Yazici (0-2, 33^e). In the process, Onana even passed very close to the hat-trick, heading up an attempt by his Turkish teammate which had been deflected by Danso (34^e).

Led by two goals at the break, the Lensois reversed the trend by reducing the gap by Fofana at the end of an action started with a touch signaled for Lille … but quickly played by the Lensois Corentin Jean (1-2, 67^e).

After a shot on the post of Yazici (84^e), decidedly unhappy, and an attempt by Ibrahima Baldé on the bar (89^e), Fofana snatched the equalizer at the end of added time (2-2, 90 + 5), before giving the victory to his team by scoring the last shot on goal.

“It’s strong inside because I see the players, the staff, the public who are happy. There were a lot of emotions tonight and the last ones are positive for us so it’s very pleasant, it’s the magic of the Cup! “, savored Lensois coach Franck Haise.