Lens continue winning streak, Endrick opens Lyon account in French Cup

Lens continue winning streak, Endrick opens Lyon account in French Cup

Odsonne Edouard put Lens ahead, and the visitors secured their ninth consecutive win in all competitions with late goals from Matthieu Udol (87th) and Abdallah Sima (89th).

Odsonne Edouard opened the scoring for Lens in the 22nd minute. (AFP pic)
PARIS:
Ligue 1 leaders Lens ploughed to a 3-0 victory at third-tier Sochaux in a snow-delayed round of 32 French Cup match on Sunday, while Real Madrid loanee Endrick scored his first goal for Lyon as he netted the winner against Lille.

In a match postponed from Saturday evening by a blizzard, Lens, who have never won the French Cup, rested only veteran midfielder against opponents who have won the competition twice.

Odsonne Edouard gave Lens a 22nd-minute lead but the visitors only locked up a ninth consecutive victory in all competitions with goals from Matthieu Udol in the 87th minute and Abdallah Sima in the 89th.

In the north of France, Brazilian 19-year-old Endrick tucked home a tidy poacher’s finish to hand Lyon a 2-1 win at Lille on his debut.

The match started in frantic fashion as Afonso Moreira flicked a long punt forward past Lille goalkeeper Arnaud Bodart to prod Lyon into the lead 49 seconds after the referee had signalled the start of the match.

Nathan Ngoy levelled for the hosts two minutes before the half-hour after Lyon failed to clear the danger and Hakon Haraldsson took advantage to tee up the defender.

Against the run of play heading into half-time, Endrick showed why Spanish giants Real Madrid splashed out a reported 47.5 million euros (US$55.9 million) for his services in 2024 as he ghosted in at the back post to clinically slot home a Corentin Tolisso flick-on and seal Lyon’s place in the last 16.

Elsewhere, struggling Nice beat fellow Ligue 1 side Nantes 5-3 on penalties after their tie finished one-apiece.

Montpellier won 4-0 at Metz and Rennes beat fourth-tier Chantilly 3-1.

Le Mans advanced with a 4-1 shoot-out victory following their stalemate with Nancy.

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