Lens and Lyon secured French Cup quarter-final spots with late drama, while Nice staged a stunning comeback against Montpellier
LENS booked their place in the French Cup quarter-finals with a 4-2 victory over Troyes. Goals from Florian Sotoca, Andrija Bulatovic, and a brace from Abdallah Sima sealed the win for the Ligue 1 title contenders.
Martin Adeline had equalised for second-tier leaders Troyes before half-time. Three goals in eight second-half minutes ultimately put Pierre Sage’s side in control.
Lyon needed a moment of magic from Real Madrid loanee Endrick to overcome Ligue 2 strugglers Laval. The 19-year-old Brazilian broke the deadlock with a powerful strike from the edge of the box in the 80th minute.
It was Endrick’s fifth goal in as many appearances since joining Lyon in December. “This start at Lyon is truly a dream come true,” the forward said after scoring his first home goal for the club.
Lyon sealed an 11th consecutive win in all competitions with a late own goal. Laval goalkeeper Maxime Hautbois turned Afonso Moreira’s effort into his own net in added time.
Nice produced a remarkable comeback to beat Montpellier 3-2. Trailing 2-0 in the second half, Kail Boudache and Antoine Mendy scored to level the tie in the 89th minute.
Sofiane Diop then won it for Nice with a fine curling effort seven minutes into injury time. In other ties, Lorient beat Paris FC 2-0, and Toulouse defeated Amiens 1-0 thanks to Yann Gboho’s first-half winner.
