Lille leaves it late to seal French Cup
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Ludovic Obraniak netted with a bizarre late freekick as double hopefuls Lille lifted the French Cup and its first major trophy since 1955 with a 1-0 win over last season's winner Paris St Germain on Saturday.
PSG goalkeeper Gregory Coupet, retiring at the end of the season, misjudged Obraniak's wide freekick which drifted over his head and went in off the post after 89 minutes.
Coupet redeemed himself slightly by saving Mathieu Debuchy's penalty moments later but the damage had been done as Ligue 1 leader Lille took its sixth French Cup, having last triumphed 56 years ago.
Lille could wrap up its first league title since 1954 and its first double since 1946 with two matches to spare if second-placed Olympique Marseille loses at FC Lorient and "the Mastiffs" beat Sochaux on Wednesday.
"At the end it went our way. It's 56 years that the people of Lille have been waiting for this," joyous coach Rudi Garcia told reporters.
"Now we are going to savor the win and prepare for Wednesday. Luckily we didn't have to play extra time. We know Ludo's left foot can cause damage, especially from dead ball situations."
Dominant in the 1940s and 50s, Lille had slipped down the pecking order in France but the northerners are now very much at the top of the game and eagerly grabbed the trophy from French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the ticker-tape presentation.
In a match of few chances in front of a packed Stade de France, Lille just about edged the dull encounter before it burst into life late on.
Gervinho wasted an opening from an early counter-attack while Lille defender Adil Rami headed over and Ligue 1 top scorer Moussa Sow thrashed the ball just too high from distance.
PSG's only real sniff of a goal before the break was when Lille keeper Mikael Landreau was forced to save Nene's freekick with his legs and the second period brought even less goalmouth action for Antoine Kombouare's team.
"It's very tough," coach Kombouare said knowing his fourth-placed side hosts Lille again in the league next weekend.
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