IRELAND DEFENDER JAKE O’Brien helpd Lyon defeat second-tier Valenciennes 3-0 on Tuesday to reach the French Cup final.
Alexandre Lacazette scored twice in the game and Lyon will now face either Paris Saint-Germain or Rennes.
Valenciennes, who are almost certain to be relegated from Ligue 2, had a first-half goal disallowed following a VAR review for a foul in the build-up.
Former Arsenal attacker Lacazette won and converted a penalty in the 51st minute and then added a second with a clinical finish on the turn.
Gift Orban replaced Lacazette and tapped in Lyon’s third with 15 minutes left to seal Lyon’s place in the 25 May final in Lille.
It will be Lyon’s first appearance in the final since 2012, when they beat third-division Quevilly to lift the most recent of their five French Cups. Record 14-time winners PSG host Rennes on Wednesday in the second semi-final.
Elsewhere, Juventus are heavy favourites to reach the Italian Cup final after beating Lazio 2-0 in Tuesday’s semi-final first leg in Turin.
Strike partnership Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic turned jeers to cheers at the Allianz Stadium with brilliant finishes in the 50th and 64th minutes as Juve sprang into life in the second half.
Kaiserslautern became the first side from outside the Bundesliga to reach the German Cup final since 2011 on Tuesday, ending third-tier Saarbruecken’s run with a 2-0 victory.
Hosts Saarbruecken were bidding to become the first third-division club to lift the trophy in the competition’s history, but came up short after goalkeeper Tim Schreiber’s costly error.
Saarbruecken had already knocked Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Moenchengladbach out of the cup, but came unstuck against fallen giants Kaiserslautern.
But the visitors struck first eight minutes into the second period, as Marlon Ritter’s near-post header from an Almamy Toure cross was allowed to bounce through his legs by Schreiber.
Saarbruecken’s cup final dream was all but ended with 15 minutes to play as former Monaco full-back Toure turned goalscorer, climbing highest to nod Tymoteusz Puchacz’s away-swinging free-kick into the bottom corner.
