Just for a change, the Coupe de France final did not involve Paris Saint-Germain.
Instead, past three-time winners Nice and Nantes battled for their first such title in over twenty years.
The outcome was decided by a penalty early in the second half before 78,000 in the Stade de France.
A small margin but it resulted in plenty for the Canaries to celebrate, including entry into the Europa League.
A capacity crowd split 60:40 in favour of Nantes, watched this 105th final on a mild spring night in the French capital.
For a neutral it was certainly a change to see a final without the ubiquitous Paris Saint-Germain.
Mauricio Pochettino’s galacticos had been eliminated earlier on by Christophe Galtier’s NIce side on penalties.
Who would go on to beat Marseille 4-1 at the Allianz Riviera.
Meanwhile Nantes eventually progressed by edging out Monaco on spot-kicks in their semi-final.
So two sides from outside the Ligue 1 top four would contest the 2022 final.
The prelims would involve some dancing and an impressive montage from the Canaries’ fans.
Plus a typically prolonged appearance, generally accompanied by a negative response, from the French President.
A little less controversially the match ws referred by Stephanie Frappart.
She has also garnered some negativity and did seem to let some tackles ride without being penalised.
But ultimately looked to have made the important decisions correctly, including sorting out a late altercation between various players.
In particular the decision to award a spot-kick to Nantes in the early seconds of the second half.
That was when Quentin Merlin’s intended cross was handled by defender Boudaoui.
It was somewhat unlucky.
But on such small margins games are won and lost.
The Nantes captain Ludovic Blas would confidently dispatch the penalty.
Prior to that drama, we had seen a fairly tight first period in which NIce had edged possession.
They had threatened through Gouiri while Nice goalie Bulka had done well to thwart Blas when put through.
Early on Khephern Thuram (son of Lilian) had been prominent while Simon’s pace and Kolo Muani’s presence showed potential.
Incidentally another famous name, Kluivert (Justin - the son of Patrick), would later appear for the Eaglets.
But despite the changes Nice’s chances boiled down to a double effort on 70 minutes when Gouiri and then Delort forced blocks from the Nantes defence.
That combined with a very solid performance by Nicolas Pallois at the heart of the back line crushed any thoughts of a fightback.
And ultimately the Canaries would run out winners of their fourth French Cup and thus qualify for Europe after a lengthy absence.
Report & Analysis - John Bethell
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