LYON: Lens kept their dream of an unlikely French league and cup double alive, beating Lyon 5-4 on penalties on Thursday to reach the semi-fin­als after their last-eight tie had ended in a 2-2 draw.

French international forward Florian Thauvin was the hero for Lens with a goal and an assist in normal time before he converted the decisive kick in the shoot-out.

Lens are Paris Saint-Germain’s closest challengers at the top of Ligue 1, sitting four points behind the reigning champions.

Now they are through to the last four in the Cup, in which they will host Toulouse next month as they dream of lifting the trophy for the first time in their history.

Lens had been 2-0 up at the interval at the Groupama Stadium, with Thauvin following in to score the opener midway through the first half after Saud Abdulhamid’s shot had been saved. Abdallah Sima’s thunderous finish then allowed them to double their lead in first-half stoppage time.

Roman Yaremchuk hit the bar after the break before pulling one back for Lyon with a header from substitute Remi Himbert’s cross midway through the second half.

It still looked like Lens would hold on until the 18-year-old Himbert equalised deep in stoppage time with goalkeeper Robin Risser caught napping.

With no extra-time in the French Cup before the final, that meant penalties, and Lyon’s Moussa Niakhate was the only player to fail from the spot as his effort was saved by Risser.

That allowed Thauvin to score the winning kick and set up a semi against Toulouse, who defeated Marseille 4-3 on penalties on Wednesday after their quarter-final also ended 2-2. Nice won on penalties at Lorient and will now go to Strasbourg, who beat Reims 2-1 on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2026