Held to a draw by the Dogues, the Niçois had to wait for the penalty shootout to secure their qualification. Yoan Cardinale stopped two attempts, while Cyprien missed his own.
“The shortest path to the final.” On Sunday in the corridors of La Beaujoire, Mika Seri reminded that he and his teammates had no intention of snubbing the League Cup. Although the final – held in Bordeaux this season – is still far away, the Aiglons overcame the Lille obstacle this Wednesday night and will have the privilege of hosting their Monaco neighbors for a quarterfinal that promises to be intense.
Like their Ivorian midfielder, Lucien Favre indicated his intentions with limited turnovers and a highly competitive team, maintaining the 4-3-3 formation they had been using for the past two weeks. Another habit, less favorable this time, the Red and Blacks got caught early in the match by Luiz Araujo, who slipped between Dante and Le Marchand before shooting past Cardinale from close range (1-0, 7th minute).
On a poor pitch, both teams were committing multiple technical errors, and the match struggled to gain momentum. But the Gym, much more confident in its abilities since climbing the rankings, remained calm. Balotelli delivered the first strike with a header from a good Makengo service (12th minute). Plea was thwarted by an impeccable Koffi, who deflected a shot heading for the top corner (38th minute). After avoiding the worst from a mishap by Souquet, which nearly benefited Mendyl (26th minute), the Gym stepped up the pace. Balotelli (42nd minute) and then Srarfi (44th minute) took aim but failed to equalize before halftime.
The same scenario unfolded at the beginning of the second half. The Gym dominated possession (64% overall) and took control in the LOSC half, searching for an opening. Koffi, usually Maignan’s backup, delayed the inevitable by blocking two shots from Srarfi (51st minute) and Balotelli (55th minute). However, he could do nothing against a brilliant strike by the Italian, well assisted by Souquet. A move reminiscent of Super Mario’s winning goal on Sunday in Nantes (1-1, 58th minute).
With half an hour left to play, LOSC seemed resigned to waiting for the penalty shootout, or for counterattacks. The Northerners nearly pulled off the perfect scenario following a poorly managed Gym corner, but El Ghazi’s rapid advance ended with a shot stopped by Cardinale (80th minute). The Nice goalkeeper would be the hero of the evening at Stade Pierre Mauroy, superbly stopping the first two Lille attempts during the penalty shootout (since this season, there’s no extra time in the League Cup). He enabled the Gym to qualify in this competition for the first time in over five years. Although Cyprien missed the mark, Lees-Melou, Plea, and Seri remained composed, allowing the Gym to continue its journey.
WORDS, WORDS…
Yoan Cardinale: On LOSC’s opener, I felt a twinge in my groin. I was really uncomfortable during the first half. But I’m a fighter; I hadn’t played for a while and was determined to finish this match and help my teammates. With a bit of luck, we qualified, but I didn’t want to abandon them because I don’t abandon my family. I wanted to show my teammates, my staff, and all our supporters that I was still here. I had a big downturn in the first half of the season. The coach makes his decisions every weekend. It’s up to me to work hard to deliver more performances like this and make the coach have doubts about his choices.
