Nantes v Olympique Lyonnais Live Commentary & Result, 05/04/2023, Coupe de France

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Both teams are next in action on Sunday in Ligue 1. Nantes are at home to Monaco, while Lyon host Rennes.

Nantes are through to the Coupe de France final for the second year in a row courtesy of a 1-0 win over Lyon at La Beaujoire-Louis-Fonteneau. Ludovic Blas's stunning strike in the second half was the difference between the two sides in a game that the hosts could have won by three or four goals. Lyon offered little in the final third outside of Bradley Barcola's late effort that was well saved by Alban Lafont. The defending champions will now play either Toulouse or Annecy in the final.

90' + 6' FULL-TIME: NANTES 1-0 LYON

D. Lovren

Yellow Card

90' + 5' Lovren brings down Delort with a firm challenge and goes into the book.

90' + 4' Lopes goes up for a corner that lands at the feet of Kumbedi, but his strike is deflected wide of the target.

90' + 4' The second corner from Caqueret enters the middle, but Moutoussamy is fouled as he attempts to clear the danger. Nantes are almost there.

90' + 2' Lyon are pressing men forward, but other than Barcola's chance, they've been fairly ineffectual in the final third.

90' There will be five minutes of added time.

E. Guessand

L. Blas

88' Guessand enters the action to replace Blas, who has made the decisive impact in the game.

86' LAFONT DENIES BARCOLA! Barcola collects on the right flank and cuts inside past Joao Victor. He only has Lafont to beat with his left-footed strike, but the Nantes keeper spreads himself to make the block.

84' BLOCK! Caqueret lines up the resulting free-kick, but he hammers his effort off the wall. Caqueret collects the rebound and floats a cross for Lovren to head wide, although he is offside anyway.

Andrei Girotto

Yellow Card

83' Kumbedi charges forward and goes down under pressure from Girotto. The Nantes man is booked and Lyon have a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area.

Jeffinho

R. Cherki

80' Cherki has not been effective tonight and makes way for Jefferson.

M. Dembélé

C. Tolisso

80' In need of a goal, Blanc takes off Tolisso and replaces him with Dembele in the final third.

79' CLOSE! Moutoussamy almost puts Nantes on the way to the final as he collects inside the box and tries to place a left-footed strike inside the left post, but his left-footed strike creeps just wide.

78' CHANCE! A deflected cross from Joao Victor falls to Blas in the inside-right channel. He takes on the strike first-time on his left foot, but sends his effort into the ground and into Lopes' grasp.

A. Delort

Mostafa Mohamed

77' Mohamed is withdrawn for the home side and is replaced by Delort.

F. Mollet

M. Sissoko

77' Mollet is on for Sissoko with a little over 10 minutes left to play.

76' Aouar lifts the free-kick into the Nantes box, but the home side are able to clear the danger before Tagliafico's cross on the follow-up is claimed by Lafont.

74' Sissoko brings down Kumbedi on the right flank for the visitors. Lyon have a chance to send men forward into the box.

72' Nantes have control of the contest here. Lyon have to up the ante to put the pressure on the home side.

M. Caqueret

Thiago Mendes

70' Caqueret enters the action to replace Mendes for the visitors.

69' Mohamed is played into space on the break and surges at the Lyon defence. He only has Lovren to beat to get through on Lopes, but he loses out to the defender.

67' CHANCE! Cherki has to hit the target! Aouar lays an offload into the feet of the winger in the final third and he has space and time to fire at goal. Cherki shoots first-time, only to lift his effort over the top.

65' OVER! Lacazette takes the resulting free-kick, but he lifts his effort over the wall and straight over the bar.

63' Castelletto brings down Cherki on the edge of the box, handing Lyon a great chance to threaten from the resulting free-kick.

61' Nantes have the advantage now and can sit on their lead to play on the counter. The visitors need to kick into gear because their effort in the second half has been underwhelming so far.

59' Nantes have avoided defeat in their last four matches when scoring the opening goal in the Coupe de France (quarter-finals onwards) dating back to 10th February 2021 against Lens (L2-4).

F. Centonze

Assist

57' Centonze lofts the ball forward for Blas to bring down and score with a special finish.

L. Blas

Goal

57' WHAT A GOALLLLLLLLLLL!!! BLAS PUTS NANTES AHEAD!!!!! 1-0!!!!! The home side get their deserved opener as Blas scores a stunner to put his team in front in the semi-final. Centonze floats a long ball over the top into the Lyon box where Blas brings it down with his back to goal. The winger turns and blasts a left-footed strike on the half-volley into the top-right corner giving Lopes no chance.

H. Aouar

S. Diomandé

55' Diomande makes way for the visitors and is replaces by Aouar.

53' Nantes have come out firing since the restart, but need to find the goal that their play in the final third deserves.

51' SAVE! Blas turns his man on the edge of the Lyon box and shoots towards the bottom-right corner. Lopes sees the ball late, but gets down to make the stop.

49' OVER! Mohamed launches another effort at goal from 20 yards, but sends this one over the top after good work from Joao Victor down the left flank to create the opening.

46' CHANCE! Lovren tries to guide a long ball forward back to Lopes, but Mohamed provides pressure and stretches to reach the ball. He can't get any direction on his effort and it bounces wide of the left post. A let off for Lyon and Lovren.

46' We're back under way in this Coupe de France clash.

Antoine Kombouare will be pleased with Nantes' performance in the first half and will feel that a goal is not too far away. The hosts just need to be more clinical in the final third, but must be wary of the threat of Lyon on the counter with their quality. We're set for an entertaining second half.

It's goalless at the break in the Coupe de France semi-final clash between Nantes and Lyon. The home side have had the best chances as Jean-Charles Castelletto saw his effort brilliantly saved by Anthony Lopes in the first minute before Samuel Moutoussamy had a goal disallowed for offside by VAR. The visitors have been limited in their opportunities and are fortunate to be level at the interval.

45' + 5' HALF-TIME: NANTES 0-0 LYON

45' + 5' Pallois is penalised for a foul from the resulting free-kick and the referee ends the half.

C. Tolisso

Yellow Card

45' + 4' Tolisso catches Blas with a lunge and goes into the book. Nantes have a chance to knock the resulting free-kick forward from just inside the Lyon half.

45' + 3' BLOCK! Cherki opens up room to release Lacazette in the Nantes box and he shapes to shoot, but Pallois does well to divert his effort behind.

45' There will be four minutes of added time.

44' SCRAMBLE! Lyon break down the left flank and Tagliafico bursts away. He sends a cross towards Barcola, who finds Kumbedi on the overlap. The ball is played slightly behind the full-back forcing him to check back before he shoots and his eventual effort is charged down. Nantes manage to hack the ball away from danger before Barcola can pounce on the rebound.

43' The home side are asking questions of the Lyon defence at the back and unfortunate not be ahead.

41' Lacazette tries to bundle his way through the Nantes defence in the final third, only to be halted by a fine challenge from Casteletto.

40' Mohamed sends a dangerous cross into the box from the right flank that Ganago steers towards goal on his right foot. The forward does all he can to find the net, but Lopes is alert to push it away from goal. The flag goes up late for offside anyway.

37' Nantes have been the more dangerous side in the final third and only a matter of inches has denied them the lead through Moutoussamy.

35' Ganago collects Blas' cross at the back post and tries to shoot amid pressure from Kumbedi, but the defender knocks the ball behind for a corner. Kumbedi gets the decision anyway from the referee for a foul in the build-up.

A. Lafont

R. Descamps

33' Descamps has been struggling with a knock and is replaced by Lafont between the posts.

32' DISALLOWED GOAL! Moutoussamy puts the ball into the back of the net following a mistake at the back by Lyon, but the goal is chalked off by VAR for offside. Moutoussamy pounces on a short backpass and closes down Lopes' clearance. Blas shoots at an empty net, but Lovren gets back to clear it off the line. Moutoussamy pounces on the rebound and dispatches his strike home, only to be denied by the officials.

31' Lovren is the latest Lyon player to attempt an ambitious strike as he launches his effort from distance well over the bar.

30' Cherki latches on to an offload from Lacazette and takes on the early strike, only to launch his effort well wide of the target.

27' Blas wins the ball down the right flank and surges forward. He combines with Mohamed with a one-two to collect his cutback into the middle, but Tolisso puts in a vital challenge to prevent him firing at goal.

25' Ganago is down for the home side and requires treatment before the game can continue.

24' CLOSE! Thiago Mendes collects 25 yards from goal and lines up a right-footed strike. His effort looks to be heading miles wide, but Lacazette almost sticks out a boot to steer it goalwards, missing it by inches.

21' SAVE! Blas collects on the left flank and cuts inside to shoot on his left foot. He connects well with his strike, but Lopes watches it all the way to make the stop.

19' Tagliafico and Lacazette combine to release Kumbedi down the right flank, but he sees his cross charged down by a fine challenge from Joao Victor.

16' Nantes win another corner down the right flank, but the visitors are able to clear the danger from the threat from Blas on this occasion.

14' Tolisso charges forward through the Nantes midfield unchallenged and has time to shoot from 25 yards, only to see his effort blocked by Pallois.

11' Kumbedi brings down Pallois on a run down the left flank, but escapes a booking for his lunge on the Nantes defender.

10' Lovren is active in the box for the visitors again and heads an effort at goal, but the whistle blows before as Cherki's cross went out of play before curling back inside.

8' The game has settled into a slower pace after a frenetic start at both ends of the pitch. The visitors want to get the ball down to find a rhythm.

5' WIDE! Lyon win a corner down the right flank through pressing from Barcola. Lovren attacks the resulting delivery from Cherki, only to scoop his strike under pressure wide of the left post.

3' Lyon press forward down the left flank, but Cherki sees his cross into the middle blocked. Tagliafico looks to head it back into the middle and sends it straight into the hands of Descamps.

1' SAVE! A corner from the right flank is cleared as far as Castelletto at the back post. He connects with a powerful strike on the volley that Lopes does brilliantly to turn over the bar. A super reaction stop.

1' Nantes are straight on the attack down the right flank and win a corner.

1' We're under way in this Coupe de France semi-final clash.

The two meetings between the sides this season in Ligue 1 both resulted in draws, including the 1-1 draw in Lyon in March.

Lyon have made two changes to their side that beat PSG in their last outing. Tolisso comes into the midfield to replace Lepenant and Barcola comes in for Amin Sarr after scoring the winner last time out.

Nantes have made six changes to their side that was beaten by Reims last time out. Descamps gets the nod between the posts, while Castelletto starts at left-back.Centonze, Moutoussamy and Ganago come into the side in the middle of the park and Mohamed leads the line. Lafont, Chirivella, Corchia, Mollet, Simon and Delort all drop to the bench.

LYON SUBS: Maxence Caqueret, Houssem Aouar, Moussa Dembele, Jerome Boateng, Johann Lepenant, Remy Riou, Mohamed El Arouch, Jefferson.

LYON (3-4-3): Anthony Lopes, Sinaly Diomande, Dejan Lovren, Castello Lukeba; Sael Kumbedi Nseke, Corentin Tolisso, Thiago Mendes, Nicolas Tagliafico; Bradley Barcola, Rayan Cherki, Alexandre Lacazette.

NANTES SUBS: Alban Lafont, Pedro Chirivella, Evann Guessand, Marcus Coco, Sebastien Corchia, Florent Mollet, Moses Simon, Andy Delort.

NANTES (4-1-4-1): Remy Descamps; Joao Victor, Andrei Girottto, Nicolas Pallois, Jean-Charles Castelletto; Fabien Centonze; Ludovic Blas, Moussa Sissoko, Samuel Moutoussamy, Ignatius Ganago; Mostafa Mohamed.

Lyon have also put forward a strong run of form in the competition, seeing off Metz, Chambery, Lille and Grenoble Foot to reach the last four. The club have not reached the Coupe de France final since 2012, the last time they won the tournament. Laurent Blanc and his team are in touching distance of the final, but need a strong effort tonight. They enter the contest on a high note after beating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 last time out in Ligue 1 on the road. A similar display is required to get through to the final.

Nantes have blazed another trail towards the Coupe de France final in defence of their crown. Antoine Kombouare's men have put together a brilliant run of results to reach the last four, defeating Vire, Thaon, Angers and Lens on their journey. Nantes have not been in great form in Ligue 1 and are currently sitting in 14th place after failing to win any of their last four matches, including a 3-0 defeat to Reims last time out. However, the form guide has gone out in the window in the cup and club are dreaming of a return to the final.

Hello and welcome to the live commentary of the Coupe de France semi-final clash between Nantes and Lyon at La Beaujoire-Louis-Fonteneau.

Nantes v Olympique Lyonnais Live Commentary, 05/04/2023

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