Fofana fires Lens past Lille in Cup thriller
Captain Seko Fofana was the hero as Lens came back from 2-0 down against Lille to reach the Coupe de France Round of 16 via a dramatic penalty shootout to end a thrilling Derby du Nord.
The hosts looked down at out at half-time after a double from Amadou Onana had Les Dogues ahead and seemingly cruising into the last 16, where Monaco awaits after its win over Quevilly-Rouen on Monday (AEDT).
Lille, depleted by COVID-19 cases and the suspension of star striker Burak Yilmaz, had several chances to put the game to bed in the second half, not least when Yilmaz's fellow Turk Yusuf Yazici hit the post with less than 10 minutes remaining after a superb run and cross from Isaac Lihadji.
Yazici also hit the woodwork in the first half, and it was such misses that would come back to haunt the visitors as Fofana inspired the comeback, scoring his first on 67 minutes from inside the Lille penalty area,
Lens piled on the pressure in the final minutes, hitting the woodwork and forcing a string of saves from Ivo Grbic as the crowd – reduced to only 5000 because of French government coronavirus restrictions – roared its approval.
There was nothing the Lille goalkeeper could do when Fofana collected the scraps from a corner in the fifth minute of stoppage-time, cutting inside the defenders before firing a shot on to the far post and into the back of the net, forcing the game into a penalty shootout.
After Jose Fonte missed Lille's second spot-kick, things looked grim for Les Dogues until Jonathan Clauss had his effort saved, allowing Jeremy Pied to level the shootout at 3-3.
But Renato Sanchez also saw his penalty saved, which left Fofana to step up and bury the decisive penalty, sending Lens into the last 16.