The poster for the Coupe de France final is now known. By beating Strasbourg (2-0) on Wednesday at the Meinau stadium, Nice pocketed its precious ticket for the match at the Stade de France on May 22.
In the fight to remain in Ligue 1 (15th), OGC Nice defied the predictions during its semi-final. He will face RC Lens in the final.
Elye Wahi’s excellent match
Thanks to Elye Wahi, the Aiglons’ providential man with a double, the Gym will try in a month to win the trophy a fourth time (1952, 1954 and 1997) against the Sang et Or, who are still chasing their first victory. But at the same time it will be necessary to avoid the scenario of 1997, when its third victory was spoiled by relegation to Ligue 2 at the end of the season.
Strasbourg, on the other hand, falls from a height. The Alsatian club did not manage to put together another dream evening after its historic qualification in the semi-final of the Conference League acquired last Thursday, and will not go to the Stade de France to play a new final 25 years after the last.
Objective of the Conference League for Strasbourg
After having rested its starters in the championship this weekend, almost jeopardizing its chances of finishing in the European places, Racing lost its bet and will undoubtedly only be able to console itself in the Conference League against Rayo Vallecano.
“It will be 50-50”: Strasbourg coach Gary O’Neil was right on Wednesday evening to be wary of Nice, returning to Meinau with new achievements after being harshly punished on April 4 (3-1) by conceding three goals in the first period. The Aiglons this time better repelled the Alsatian attacks in the first act except for an alert which almost benefited Martial Godo (23rd).
Dupé’s reflex stop
Dominated but not overwhelmed, Nice clung to its mission, even managing to take the advantage after a bright opening from Jonathan Clauss for Elye Wahi, author of an unstoppable cross strike (1-0, 51st). Strasbourg had, however, just obtained a new opportunity to open the score a minute earlier but Julio Enciso opted for too soft a shot, forgetting Emmanuel Emegha behind (50th).
Maxime Dupé, holder in place of No.1 Yehvann Diouf in the cages, also greatly contributed to the success of OGC Nice by notably making a reflex save to deflect a new attempt by Julio Enciso with a header at close range (76th).
Our Football file
This semi-final also turned into a nightmare for Alsatian defender Ismaël Doukouré, who caused a penalty by mowing down Mohamed-Ali Cho, which Elye Wahi transformed with mastery (82nd). The center forward once again showed that Nice was right to obtain his loan in January, a few days after the arrival on the bench of Claude Puel, another strong man in this qualification for the final.
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