Lille was close to taking revenge on Lyon, who took it out last month from the final price of the cup with a penalty shootout, after advancing 3-1 with a hat-trick by Canadian Jonathan David until the 83rd minute.
However, Lyon responded with a brace for substitute Alexandre Lacazette in the last seven minutes.
The last minute of stoppage time also witnessed additional excitement after the referee awarded a penalty kick to the night that was enough to give them victory, before he reversed his decision after resorting to the video assistant referee “VAR”.
And now Lille has 46 points in sixth place, compared to 40 for Lyon in the eighth.
After a calm first half, Lille quickly advanced seconds after the second kick-off through David (46), who doubled his team’s lead from a penalty kick (61).
However, the guests responded through Bradley Barkola (64), to return and David completed the hat-trick from a penalty kick also in the 79th minute.
But Lacazette, who entered in the 71st minute, managed to score two goals within six minutes (83 and 89) to calm the crowd’s voices at the Pierre Moreau stadium.
The referee awarded a third penalty kick for the night, amidst mad joy in the stands (90 + 5), when a foul by Croatian Diane Lovren was awarded to Jonathan Mbappa inside the area.
And when the Algerian Adam Ounas was preparing to implement it, after David left, the referee resorted to “VAR” and reversed his decision, so that the two teams came out tied.
© 2023 AFP
