PLAYER RATINGS | Lens 3-1 Nice: Thauvin and Édouard score to clinch club’s first-ever Coupe de France
PLAYER RATINGS | Lens 3-1 Nice: Thauvin and Édouard score to clinch club’s first-ever Coupe de France Florian Thauvin, Odsonne Édouard, and Abdallah Sima all scored as Lens to saw off a spirited challenge from Nice in Friday’s Coupe de France final at the Stade de France. Having challenged PSG in the league for most of the season, Pierre Sage’s men have now clinched the club’s first-ever domestic cup win to cap off a history-making campaign. The match This year’s Coupe de France finalists will have had vastly differing fortunes over the course of the league season.
While Lens challenged Paris Saint-Germain for the title (for the second time in four years, no less), Nice’s season has disintegrated ever since losing in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League in August. Les Aiglons are now due to play a relegation play-off against Saint-Étienne next week. For the Sang et Or , Friday’s trip down to Paris was the chance to cap off a history-making season by winning the club’s first-ever Coupe de France.
The Lens faithful vastly outnumbered the fans who had come up from the French Riviera, partly due to the distance and the last-minute changes to the later contingent’s travel arrangements. The primary threat in the opening exchanges came from Nice’s through ball’s for Elye Wahi, which were wll dealt with by Ganiou. A Lens corner later fell for Allan Saint-Maximin at the back post, but the ensuing curled shot could only graze the top of Maxime Dupé’s bar.
A misunderstanding between Robin Risser and his defence then granted Wahi an open-goal chance, but the Ivorian international was also unable to keep his shot down. Saint-Maximin again came close to scoring minutes later, having rounded the goalkeeper before seeing his shot from a tight angle blocked by the defender. After a spell of pressure from Nice, it was Lens who struck first halfway through the first half.
Matthieu Udol would race past Jonathan Clauss down the left wing and towards the box, with his cutback finding Florian Thauvin. The 33-year-old made no mistake from the middle of the box, slotting a left-footed shot past Dupé into the bottom corner. The Artois side doubled their lead just before half-time, as Odsonne Édouard escaped his marker to head in a corner which was swung in by Adrien Thomasson.