Wahi brace fires Nice into Coupe de France final
Nice will play Lens in the Coupe de France final on May 22 as Elye Wahi's double helped it past Strasbourg in their last-four clash.
Nice reached its first Coupe de France final since 2022 as two goals from Elye Wahi helped seal a 2-0 win over Gary O'Neil's Strasbourg in the semi-final.
Having won the competition three times as a player with Monaco, Claude Puel will now look to repeat the trick in his managerial career against Lens in next month's showpiece.
After a cagey start from both teams, Wahi was presented with the game's first clear-cut opportunity in the 13th minute, but after playing a neat one-two with Tom Louchet, he saw his prodded shot tipped onto the post by Mike Penders.
It was then Strasbourg's turn to squander two glorious chances 10 minutes later, with Julio Enciso's effort from Diego Moreira's cutback cleared off the line by Antoine Mendy before Martial Godo somehow blazed over the rebound from six yards out.
Enciso then dragged an attempt narrowly wide in the 50th minute, and Nice made the most of that reprieve 70 seconds later through Wahi, who drilled the ball into the bottom-left corner after being slipped in behind by Jonathan Clauss.
Strasbourg pushed for an equaliser late on as Enciso curled narrowly wide of the far post before Gessime Yassine lashed another Moreira delivery over the crossbar.
However, it was hit with a sucker punch eight minutes from time after Ismael Doukoure brought down Mohamed-Ali Cho inside the penalty area, with the spot-kick awarded after a VAR review, and Wahi made no mistake from 12 yards as he sent Penders the wrong way to seal the win.
Not since 1997 has Nice been crowned the Coupe de France champion, with the closest it came coming four years ago when a 47th-minute penalty from Ludovic Blas saw Nantes emerge victorious at the Stade de France.
After a difficult season in Ligue 1 - it sits four points above the relegation play-off places - Nice could have something to cheer about at the end of May, and its victory here could be a good omen.
The only previous clash between Nice and Lens in the Coupe de France had seen a 5-0 victory for the Aiglons in the round of 32 in 1954, an edition they went on to win.
