Darcheville wins cup for Lorient

FC Lorient won the first trophy in their history after overcoming SC Bastia 1-0 in the French Cup final.

Joy for Darcheville
In his final game for the club before joining FC Girondins de Bordeaux, captain Jean-Claude Darcheville scored the vital goal with five minutes to go in the first half. The burly striker collected a long ball from midfield, shrugged off a challenge from a defender and delicately lifted the ball over Bastia goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel.

Late chances
Lorient were relegated from Le Championnat last week and had already tasted bitter defeat to Bordeaux in the French League Cup final this season but finally their fans had something to celebrate. Indeed Lorient had plenty of chances to add to their lead and should have made the margin of victory more emphatic in a dramatic final few minutes.

Just wide
Darcheville himself should have been celebrating a second goal deep into second-half added time as he stormed into the Bastia area again, but his shot across Boumnijel was just wide of the goalkeeper’s left-hand post.

Strange events
However, the game was tinged with controversy after a strange sequence of events saw the kick off at the Stade de France delayed by 20 minutes. When Bastia fans – who are proud of their Corsican origins – jeered the French national anthem, French president Jacques Chirac threatened to leave the stadium in disgust.

Impassioned speech
French Football Federation (FFF) president Claude Simonet gave an impassioned speech to the crowd pleading for calm while a delegation managed to persuade Chirac to return to his seat. In the meantime, the players were left in the tunnel and only emerged once the president had returned.