Olympique Lyonnais on Tuesday beat Lille OSC on penalties after a dramatic 2-2 draw at the Groupama Stadium to reach their sixth Coupe de la Ligue final, setting up a possible clash with record eight-time winners Paris Saint-Germain.
Renato Sanches dragged what proved to be the last penalty of the shoot-out wide to send Lyon through.
This is the final season of the Coupe after Ligue 1 voted to suspend the competition from next term to ease fixture congestion.
Lille have never won the tournament, losing once in the final in 2016.
Lyon will bid to lift the trophy for the second time at the Stade de France on April 4, when they take on the winner of yesterday’s second semi-final between Stade de Reims and PSG.
Portugal midfielder Sanches gave visitors Lille a 13th-minute lead with a low left-footed strike from outside the area to score his second goal for the club since joining from Bayern Munich in August last year.
However, the hosts were gifted a way back into the game four minutes later when centerback Gabriel handled inside the area.
Moussa Dembele, who missed a penalty in the 4-3 Coupe de France win at Nantes on Saturday, drilled the spot-kick into the top corner to grab his sixth goal in five games.
Neither side created many chances either side of halftime, but Houssem Aouar appeared to have fired Lyon into the final with a fine long-range strike with five minutes remaining.
However, there was another twist in the tale, as despite a lengthy delay for a video assistant referee review, Lille were awarded an injury-time penalty for what appeared to be an excellent tackle by former Manchester United fullback Rafael on Jonathan Bamba.
Loic Remy, who went on as a 78th-minute substitute, stepped up with a cool “Panenka” finish down the middle of the goal to force more spot-kicks.
However, Ciprian Tatarusanu, playing in place of usual Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, saved Bamba’s opening penalty before Sanches’ miss sealed Lille’s fate.
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